Where Our Choices Lead
by Deadman19
Summary: Our choices decide our future and shape our destiny. When Voldemort chooses to murder his wife, it set in motion a series of events that could lead to his downfall. This is the recounting of those events. Follow Edward Riddle as he helps his family and friends navigate the wizarding world and tries to thwart his father once and for all. [Revamped version of Heir of Slytherin.] R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Well, this is chapter one of the revamped version of Heir of Slytherin. It's taken me a lot longer than even I had anticipated, but I'm confident enough that I can keep this going that I'm posting this first chapter now to see what you all think of it. I've changed things obviously from the original. I've changed the name of Harry's sister to something that flows a little better, deaged her, and then added a whole new character! Why? Because I didn't feel right with Sirius not having a kid and I always imagined him having a daughter. I'm not really that far ahead of things, not like I wanted to be at all. I've gotten as far as chapter 3. But life just keeps getting in the way. Got a new job so for the next ten weeks while I train, writing time will be little to none. But once I get to me real schedule (4pm to midnight) I'll have more time to write. I'll try for a once a month posting schedule but I make no promises. I hope you guys enjoy this.**

 **I do not own Harry Potter!**

Albus Dumbledore had just had a very long night, possibly the longest in his entire life. He sighed as he moved past the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office and trudged up the staircase to the door. Frank and Alice Longbottom were dead, leaving Neville to live with his Grandmother Augusta. She was a fierce woman but Albus had no doubt that she would raise him well. Voldemort had indeed gone after the Potters, they had been betrayed. _"Black, why?"_

Albus walked through the door and sat down in his chair, not at all noticing the man that sat across from him until he looked up. He started. "Edward! You gave me a start."

The only son of Voldemort smiled sadly. "You were so deep in your thoughts."

"Yes well, a lot has happened. Sirius' betrayal, the Longbottoms' death, and Voldemort's destruction."

Edward shook his head. "Sorry Headmaster but you've got one bit wrong. Sirius switched roles with Peter to throw Voldemort off, not that it matters since Peter was the traitor the whole time."

Albus was gob smacked. "Why was I not informed?"

"We figured the less that knew the better. Remus didn't even know. We were obviously wrong in that and it's a bloody disaster."

Albus massaged his brow, a disaster indeed. "Where is Sirius now?"

"He's with James until things at the Ministry calm down."

Albus had a disapproving look on his face. "You should have told me, we may have been able to avoid this mess."

"Maybe, maybe not. But we'll never know for sure now. The best we can do at this point is to rebuild."

The old man sighed. "Indeed, and what a process we have in front of us."

"Plus, we both know that my father isn't really dead."

"No, I'm afraid not. He has been reduced to a wraith. How he achieved this, I cannot tell you."

"I assume that you have some idea as to where to start on finding the answer."

"Oh yes. In the meantime however, I am in need of a new Defense professor."

Edward groaned. "This again."

Albus smiled benignly. "Based upon the fact that Voldemort is not dead, we can assume that at some point he will attempt to return to power. When he does, I think it'll be prudent that the students are taught by someone who knows the ins and outs of defense, someone who will teach them what they need to know to face the upcoming war."

Edward grunted. "Fine, I'll do it. You don't have to bloody guilt trip me over it."

Albus beamed. "Very good Edward!"

With a sigh, Edward accepted his new teaching position.

 _10 Years Later….._

Harry Potter woke up in his large four poster bed with a grin on his face. Today was the day. He was finally going to Hogwarts! He leapt out of bed, throwing on a pair of slacks and a green button up shirt. He hurried down stairs to greet his parents and his sullen little sister, who still had one more year before she would be going to Hogwarts.

James Potter was reading the Daily Prophet, a frown present on his face. He looked up and grinned when Harry entered the room, ruffling Harry's hair as he sat down. "Ready for your first year son?"

"Yeah I am dad." Harry said with a grin on his face. "I can't wait!"

Lily Potter walked into the room with a small smile on her face. "My baby is growing up!" She gripped Harry in a hug and dropped a kiss on his head.

"Mum!" Harry protested as Emma giggled and Harry glared at her.

 _Hogwarts…._

Edward Riddle sighed as he went over what his teaching material for the upcoming year. He sometimes regretted taking Albus up on the teaching job, but he saw the need for it. Albus figured that Voldemort had cursed the job back when Albus turned him down for it. So Edward was really the only option for it, not that he wasn't well qualified for it. He had a mastery in the subject and no one had a larger cache of knowledge about the dark arts than he did except perhaps Voldemort himself. It was a convenient decision for Albus to make. Edward was the only option and he was the most qualified for the position.

He frowned and kept going over his work. He really didn't love the paperwork portion of the job but he did enjoy imparting what he knew to the next generation. He was really looking forward to seeing how his God-Daughter performed. Sirius was an auror so he was confident that he had passed down some of what he knew. Harry would be much the same.

 _12 Grimmauld Place….._

"Daaaaad!" Cassiopeia Marlene Black complained as Sirius messed up her blonde hair. She glared at her grinning father. "I just got done with my hair! Now I have to do it all over again!"

She felt her hair fix itself and turned to see her grandmother, the graceful Walburga Black, pass by her. "Why do it the muggle way when you have magic?"

Cassiopeia scowled. "Dad forbade me from using magic to do it.

Walburga raised a brow at her son and he shrugged. "It builds character to do things the muggle way."

The older woman rolled her eyes. "It's rather redundant Sirius. The fidelius charm covers our home which lets her use magic without ministry interference. Why work harder when you can save time with magic?"

The father rolled his eyes. "Yes mother."

Walburga winked at her granddaughter with a sly smile on her face. "Cassiopeia dear, you'd best eat and grab your trunk if we're going to meet the Potters at the platform."

Cassiopeia had a huge grin on her face as she dug into her food.

 _King's Cross…._

On the platform, the boy who lived, Neville Longbottom, sighed as he said goodbye to his gran and climbed aboard the train. He pulled his trunk to towards the back of the train trying to keep his toad Trevor from escaping.

He sat down and waited for the train to leave. He rearranged his hair so that his bangs covered up his lightning bolt scar. He hated his fame. His gran had taught him from a young age to use his fame accordingly, but to never allow it to go to his head. He had resolved to make his parents proud and allowing himself to get arrogant wouldn't do that.

He had grown up around the Potters. Harry had been his friend for years along with Cassie. _I wonder if we'll end up in the same house._ Though both Harry and Cassie's parents were Gryfindors, they were very Slytherin. Neville wouldn't be surprised if that's where they ended up but he hoped they all ended up together. Suddenly the door slid open and a red headed boy walked in. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all."

The boy sat down across from him and stuck out his hand. "I'm Ron Weasley."

Neville shook it. "Neville Longbottom."

The boy's eyes widened in shock. "Blimey. Can I see it?"

Neville sighed and pulled his hair back to flash his scar.

"Bloody hell mate. Sorry about that, I've always wanted to see it in person. I promise I won't ask again."

"It's no problem."

Suddenly the door opened and a bushy haired girl walked in, freezing at the sight. "May I?"

Neville gestured for her to enter. "Sure. I'm Neville Longbottom and this is Ron Weasley."

She stared at him for a moment, glancing at his forehead but thankfully, didn't say anything. "My name is Hermione Granger, and thanks."

Further up the train, Harry and Cassie sat in their own car when a blond boy cautiously entered the car. "Do you mind if I sit in here?"

"Sure Draco." Harry smiled at his friend.

Draco snorted. "Bloody hell Potter, Black. I haven't seen you two in a long while."

"Since the last bring your kid to work day." Cassie grinned and Harry laughed with Draco letting a small smirk grace his features.

Draco heaved his trunk onto the top rack before sitting down across from his two friends. "Ready for Hogwarts?"

"Of course we're ready. We've only been waiting for this since we were small children."

Draco shrugged. "So what house do you reckon you'll go in? Father says I'll end up in Slytherin no matter what."

Harry nodded. "Cassie's Godfather said that he had no choice in his placement either. But dad said that he got a choice. The hat normally gives you a say before it makes its final decision."

Cassie nodded her agreement. "So how has your home life been?"

The Malfoy heir shrugged. "Father and I still don't really get on all that well. I refuse to agree with his beliefs and that annoys him immensely."

"That I can imagine!" Cassie laughed.

Harry smiled supportively at his friend. "In the end, we have to be who we are, not who our parents are."

"Well said Harry, who'd have thought that there was a brain inside that big head of yours." Cassie teased her friend.

Harry scowled and mussed her hair causing the Black heiress to scowl and stick her tongue out at him. Draco laughed at the pair's antics. This only caused Cassie and Harry to turn their glares on him which only made Draco laugh even more.

 _Hogsmeade….._

Sirius Black and Edward Riddle sat at a corner table waiting for their butterbeers. "Can you believe they're school age already?"

Edward smiled at his sullen friend. "Don't worry Padfoot, they'll be fine."

Sirius waved him off. "Oh it's not that mate, but we're getting old you know."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. This is part of life."

"But sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky, to be blessed with a daughter like Cassie."

"You're a good man Sirius, you deserve a bit of happiness just like everyone else. You're too bloody hard on yourself sometimes."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What about you then? If I deserve happiness, then you deserve it for putting up with me."

Edward smiled, thanked Madam Rosmerta for the butterbeer and took a drink, letting the conversation shift. "So, any luck with Peter?"

Sirius rolled his eyes but his smile slid from his face. "Still nothing. You'd think it'd be easier to find him once we sent his description out."

"You'd have him by now if you'd do as I suggest and release information about his animagus transformation."

"Bloody hell mate, we've done that already."

Edward frowned. "I thought that you hadn't, I guess bing cooped up at Hogwarts for most of the year has me lacking on information."

Sirius nodded. "We've covered all of our bases mate, but do you know how many brown rats are in this country? Picking one out of millions and it being Peter is unlikely."

With a grunt of agreement, Edward took another drink of butterbeer. "Good point."

Sirius grinned. "So, are you ready for the dynamic duo this year?"

"Indeed, I'm looking forward to it."

"Are you going to be able to handle them?"

"I was able to handle the four of you when we were in school."

With a grin, Sirius took a drink of his butterbeer. Putting it down, Sirius took on a serious look. "If Cassie gives you too much trouble let me know."

Edward snorted. "Sirius, we got up to a lot of trouble back in our day. Harry and Cassie are both sensible children. They'll be smart about any prank they pull and they know to respect their teachers."

Sirius grinned. "Except for Snape."

"Him too Sirius, you know that he's grown up, just like the rest of us have."

"I know mate, I was just pulling your leg. I still don't particularly like him, but I can tolerate him for you and Lily."

"Thank you. He's a good man even if he doesn't always show it. He's good at keeping children in line, with the exception of the Weasley Twins. But then, nobody can really keep them in line."

"They're avid pranksters then?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. They even give Peeves a run for his money. Some of us think that Peeves even works with them."

"Harry and Cassie will give them a run."

"God forbid if they joined up. I don't even want to imagine the chaos."

Sirius laughed at that. "It'll be an interesting seven years."

"Yes indeed. I look forward to it though. It'll be a lot of fun."

The two friends got up and paid the bill. Right before Sirius apparated away Edward grabbed his shoulder. "I'll take care of them Sirius. Try not to worry too much."

Sirius smiled tiredly. "I'm a parent mate, worrying is what we do best."

 _Later…._

Harry and his friends gaped at the castle as they rode in the boats with Hagrid. "It's huge!" Draco and Cassie nodded in awe. Hagrid chuckled at the three children as he warned everyone to watch their heads.

After they docked the boats and dismounted, Hagrid led them to the doors where Minerva was waiting. "Thank you Hagrid, I'll take it from here." Hagrid nodded and left them to the care of the Deputy Headmistress. "Welcome to Hogwarts, there are four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. You will be sorted and for the next four years, that will be your family. You will earn house point by answering questions or doing what you're supposed to do. However, breaking the rules will result in loss of house points and detention. The house with the most points by the end of the year will with the House Cup."

The children all nodded in awe and anticipation. Minerva, satisfied that they understood, turned and left them to get the hat ready. She wondered what song it'd sing this year. But as she turned away, she winked at Harry, Cassie, and Neville.

Minerva set the stool up and called for the group of new first years to make their way in.

As the students all filed in, she noticed with distaste how some of them automatically looked for the Boy-Who-Lived. She hated how he had been heaped into the limelight. She would do her best to curb the mob but she wasn't sure what else she could do. With a sigh, she placed the hat on the stool and waited. Within moments, a tear opened up above the brim, and the hat began to sing.

 _Oh you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall, for I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head the Sorting Hat can't see, so try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) for I'm a Thinking Cap!_

She waited for the applause to die down before she took up the scroll of parchment. She vaguely heard Ronald Weasley whisper, in a tone of outrage, that Fred and George had said something about fighting a troll. She just sighed and began to call the names. "Hannah Abbott!" A small girl made her way shyly to the stool and sat down as the hat was placed upon her head.

"Hufflepuff!" And so began the sorting.

It wasn't long after it began that Cassie was called. With a shaky breath, she made her way to the stool. " _Ahhh, another Black. Not quite like your father, but certainly not like most of your family. Hmm yes. Courage is there, you'd do well in Gryffindor. You don't really have the thirst for knowledge that would qualify you for Ravenclaw. Definitely not Hufflepuff eh? Don't underestimate loyalty but no, I don't think you'd quite fit there anyway. But you certainly have the ambition for Slytherin. You'd do quite well there. Yes, I think so. Well what do you think? This isn't exactly a one hat job you know."_

" _Um well, whichever one you think is best. I don't really care either way."_

" _Very well then, it had better be_ Slytherin!"

Cassie was a little relieved but her stomach knotted up as she made her way to the Slytherin table. She really hoped that Harry ended up in the same house as her. Several minutes later where the Granger girl was sorted into Gryffindor, Neville's name was called. He gulped at the eyes that were on him. He made his way up and sat down and. He actually shuddered when the hat was put on his head. _"Mr. Longbottom, it's nice to meet you. Well now, what do we have here? Hmm, yes, yes. You'd do well in Slytherin, you have the thirst to prove yourself, but no, not for you I don't think. Not Ravenclaw. Perhaps Hufflepuff….but no. No, I think that your place is in_ Gryffindor!" A shocked Neville got up and made his way to his new house amidst cheers.

A few names later, Draco's name was called. The boy trudged his way up to the hat and let it be placed upon his head. _"Hello there! I must say that this is most unexpected!_

" _You mean that you didn't think that there'd be another Malfoy?"_

" _Malfoy? Oh yes, indeed. Sorry about that, thought you were someone else. Now then, yes. There is only one house for you,_ Slytherin!" Draco sighed, a little confused at his interaction with the hat, got up and made his way to his new house. Cassie made a spot for him on her right. He smiled at her gratefully and sat down.

Later, after Pansy Parkinson was sorted into Slytherin, Harry's name was called. He took a breath to steady himself, and walked smoothly up to the stool, sat down, and waited as the hat was placed on his head. _"Well now, another Potter! I remember your mother and father, outstanding Gryffindors. You however, seem to be a different story. You certainly have courage. And a lot of brains even though that thirst for knowledge isn't there. You have loyalty in spades but it's not that highest on your list of qualities. But you have a lot of ambition. Oh yes, you want to surpass your parents. You have big shoes to fill but I am confident that you'll fill them. Yes, you will do well in_ Slytherin!"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way to his friends, sitting on Cassie's left. The sorting continued until Ron Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor. As he sat down and the applause died down, Albus Dumbledore stood and motioned for quiet. "Before we gorge ourselves I have only this to say, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you." With those odd words, the feast appeared in front of everyone and they dug in. Harry looked at Cassie, a bewildered expression on his face. "Every time he comes over I am always reassured that he is not only extremely brilliant, but also certifiably insane." This made the first years around him laugh as a grin appeared on Harry's face. He glanced at the head table to find Dumbledore peering at him with a small smile on his face.

After they had sufficiently stuffed their faces, Dumbledore stood up yet again. "Now that we are all full, I have a couple of announcements to make. For one, the Forbidden Forrest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. Please do not go out there unless you'd like to meet a horrible death. The list of banned items is now up to 593 and the list can be found in the office of our Caretaker, Mr. Filtch if any of you are interested in reading it. Now then, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow so off you trot. Prefects, if you will show our new students to their dorms. Have a good night all!"

Harry, Cassie, and Draco dutifully followed the prefects down to the dungeons where the Slytherin dorms and common room were located behind a stone door. The prefect, Jake Flinton, motioned for them to stop. "Now, this is how you lot get into the common room. Remember, curfew is at ten so don't be late." Harry suppressed a grin at the thought of the invisibility cloak that lay in his trunk, ready for use. "Now, the password is posted on the board and a new one will be chosen every Sunday at midnight, so you'd better remember it. For now, it's "Moon Light Madness"." The door opened to reveal an opening which they all climbed through. After they all had gathered into the common room. Jake turned to them again. "Now here's the deal, Professor Riddle is our Head of House. Tomorrow morning at 7 am sharp, he'll call you to his classroom to welcome you all, so you'd better be down here by 6:30 so I can escort you lot there. Now he's fair, but if you piss him of, then on your own head be it. He doesn't like bullies and he doesn't appreciate stupidity. But if you ever need to talk to him, his door is always open, but don't waste his time. Anything small, we solve it in house. Alright then, first year dorms are at the bottom of these stairs, boys on the right and girls on the left. Don't let any of us catch you trying to sneak into someone else's dorm, understand?" A chorus of yes was heard. "Good, now go to bed and remember, 6:30 am sharp."

Harry said goodbye to Cassie and followed Draco to their dorm. As he entered, he was in a state of awe. Six large, four poster beds dominated the room with a bathroom off to the side. Each bed had a trunk in front of it and Harry was delighted to find Hedwig's cage with a note saying that a house elf had already gotten her to the owlery. He changed into his night clothes and climbed into bed. He was on the far end away from the bathroom but in front of the door and Draco was next to him. Harry and Draco said goodnight before closing their respective curtains and falling into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here we are, chapter 2. I didn't really get a lot of responses on the last chapter but it is what it is. I hope you all enjoy and please drop a review!**

Monday morning, thirty minutes before breakfast was to start, the newest Slytherin class was gathered in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom waiting for their head of house to arrive. Harry and Cassie sat bleary eyed and barely awake while Draco sat attentive and alert. "I don't know why you two are so tired, we got plenty of sleep." Cassie's glare made him gulp and say no more.

The door opened suddenly and in strolled Edward Riddle, DADA professor and Slytherin Head of House. "Good morning all, thank you for joining me this fine morning. I realize that it is rather early but I figured I'd let you get to sleep last night and do this in the morning so you'll have time to get properly woken up before your classes start. First, I'd like to say welcome to Hogwarts, and welcome to Slytherin House. I realize that some of you come from families that are less than exemplary. Of course I'm talking about Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, Parkinson, and so forth. I understand the teachings of your families, and that you're expected to act in a certain manner. However, while you are here, a part of the House of my ancestor, you will show respect to your fellow student no matter what house they're in. Of course if you are heckled by another house, I expect you all to stand together and I will deal with them most harshly. But let me say this, if I hear that any from my house acted in a manner not befitting the name Slytherin, I will deal with that student harshly and in front of the entire Great Hall if need be. You will not pick fights, you will not antagonize your fellow students, and most of all, you will show respect to all who address you. Because no matter what political drivel your families have shoved down your throats and pounded into your brains, they are still human, just like you. Their blood flows red, just like yours. Treat them as such. Here at Hogwarts, your blood status means nothing. Your family name means nothing. You are all equal here. Now remember, if you are attacked unfairly I will protect you but, if you are unfair to others, you will know my wrath. Now, off to breakfast you go. I'll be seeing you all shortly with your class schedules."

It was a pale group of students that entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. They walked past the older Slytherins who all had knowing smirks on their faces. The prefect from the night previous, Jake Flinton spoke up. "Don't worry, he's always like that in the beginning. But as long as you keep your noses clean, you'll get to really like him. He knows his stuff and as I said last night, his door is always open." The first years, a little more heartened than before, all nodded as said professor entered the Great Hall and handed them their class schedules.

 _Class Number One, Potions….._

Harry made his way to his seat beside Cassie for their first class; Potions. Harry was looking forward to it, even if Cassie wasn't. "Don't worry Cassie we'll be fine."

She scowled at him. "Professor Snape hates my dad, more than he hates yours and he's bound to take it out on me!" Harry couldn't refute that. His father had warned him that Snape would be harder on them than anyone else simply because of who their parents were. His mum had been adamant, however, that Snape had grown up and wouldn't hold a school boy grudge against the children. Harry had his reservations on that though. The noise in the room ceased immediately as Severus Snape stormed into the room, scowl ever present on his face. As he turned and looked at them all, he settled a piercing glare on Harry and Cassie before quickly moving on. In that moment, Harry and Cassie knew that they were marked for the slaughter.

 _Later…_

Edward looked at Snape, irritation clear on his face. "You're telling me, that on their very first day of class, you ask them questions more fit for fifth years? How childish of you."

Severus scowled. "You weren't bullied by their fathers. Potter looks just like his idiot father. Black has her father's eyes. They even act like them."

With a snort, Edward took a drink of tea. "Of course Harry looks like his father, James is his bloody father. But if you'd take the time, you'd find that he's more like his mother. And Cassie is a lot like Sirius, but she's no bully. Besides that, you're in your bloody thirties, it's time to let it go mate."

Severus glared for a moment before relenting. "I wasn't picking on them, I expected them to be able to answer my questions."

Edward's brow arched. "Oh?"

"They were taught by Lily before they came here were they not?"

"Yes but she never let them brew anything big by themselves. They do help her with the Wolfsbane potion though, which I understand is a very difficult potion to brew."

Snape nodded. "It is. So I was right then, they know the subject."

Edward waved his had in dismissal. "They aren't masters on it like you. It isn't their favorite thing to do but they are capable and I have no doubt they'll be able to outdo anyone in their year in the final exams."

Snape nodded. "It is as I suspected then. They are very good. They brewed this morning's potion to perfection, much better than anyone else in their class. Of course I didn't tell them that but I gave them perfect marks. But I believe that Longbottom may destroy my classroom before it's all over, he's absolutely useless in the class."

"His parents weren't great at it either. In fact, the only reason they got as good a grade on it as they did is because Slughorn knew they wanted to be aurors and didn't want to hinder them. He tutored them quite often. And Lily used to tutor Alice in their spare time. In the end, they did well enough to get in to the auror program."

Snape snorted. "And we see where that got them."

Edward glared at Snape. "That was bloody uncalled for. Them being aurors didn't cause their deaths, your former master being an evil bastard caused it." He got a shrug in reply. "Anyway, Augusta is rather good at potions. Her son and grandson obviously didn't inherit that talent."

"That's an understatement." Edward just rolled his eyes and sipped his tea.

Harry sat up in the common room late that night staring into the fire. _What do you want out of life?_ It was a question his uncle Eddie had asked him before leaving for Hogwarts. _"What do I want out of life?"_ He wanted to be great. He wanted the world to be in awe of him. He didn't want their fear, or their worship, as Voldemort had. He just wanted their respect. He looked down at his wand, yew wood with the hair of a thestral dipped in basilisk venom. Ollivander said that it was rare and a dangerous combination to work with, and that he'd do great things with it. Harry knew that he needed to excel in everything he set his mind to in order to live up to his own expectations of himself. But there was an underlying cause. He wanted to make his sister proud of him. She had looked up to him ever since they were little and he wanted to be deserving of it. He smiled to himself. He'd make them all proud. He got up and made his way to his dorm. It wouldn't do to not get enough sleep lest he fall asleep in History of Magic.

By the end on first period on their second day, Harry had come to form the opinion that Professor Binns was very boring. "All he does is drone on about the Goblin Wars! There was no introduction or anything! He just came in and launched into the most boring lecture I've ever heard. I ended up reading my bloody text book instead of listening to that hack!" Cassie snickered behind him while Hermione Granger just look scandalized as they walked into Transfiguration, where a cat was perched on the desk. Harry and Cassie, knowing who it was, just smiled and took their seats while the rest of the class cooed at the cat who turned into Professor McGonagall after the last student had entered. Now the day before, she had just introduced them to the subject and told them what they would be studying so no one had any idea, save for two Slytherins, that the Professor could do that. Of course the students who, just a moment before had spent five minutes going on about how cute the cat was, were suitably horrified.

The stern woman gazed at them all. "Five points to each of you for being kind." There was a twitch on her face that almost looked like a smile but it disappeared within half a second of appearing. She went on to explain the theory behind turning a match into a needle. Of them all, Harry was the only one to transfigure his perfectly even though it had taken him several tries to do so. Cassie was frustrated as she had only managed to turn her match into a wooden needle. "Very good Mr. Potter, 10 points. And Mrs. Black, take 5 points." The two friends beamed at one another as Harry went to work transfiguring his needle back into a match whilst Cassie took time trying to complete the full transformation.

By the time they got to their first DADA class, they were in fairly good moods, having earned Slytherin quite a few points throughout the day. But as they walked in and took their seats, they were in a more anxious mood. They knew to take this class with the utmost seriousness after all, uncle Eddie would take no less. After the last student had sat down, a door towards the front of the class opened and in walked Professor Riddle. Like Professor Snape, he was taller than others, about 6 foot 1. He also fancied black robes that billowed. He had black hair and piercing blue eyes that could look into your soul. He had a beard that was neatly trimmed and groomed meticulously and he exhumed power and dominance, almost daring students to speak out or to do anything out of turn. But then, he smiled at them and the tension was broken. "Hello all and welcome to your very first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Here, you will learn all there is for me to teach you about the dark arts and how to combat them. I'll teach you how to deter a dementor, stop a vampire, and take down a dark wizard. Or dark witch for you feminists." There were a few chuckles and he had a smirk on his face as he observed his captivated audience. "I have much to teach you over the next seven years, so you'll need to listen very carefully, and follow my instruction. So now, here we go."

By week's end, the children were all tired and ready for the arrival of the weekend. They went to bed Friday night dreaming of peace and relaxation. However, while the children were sleeping, the professors were all in Dumbledore's office to discuss the progress of the returning, and the new, students. Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk with, his fingers steepled, listening to the reports from each teacher. At the moment Flitwick was speaking. "They all seem to be adjusted quite well. However there are indeed standouts. At the moment, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are doing the best in my class, mastering charms almost as fast as I can teach it." That seemed to be the common theme with each report. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were at the top with Cassiopeia Black and Draco Malfoy in close seconds and Neville Longbottom in third. He had yet to hear from Severus, Edward, or Minerva. Of course flying lessons wouldn't start until the next week. There he expected Potter to surpass everyone.

Once the other teachers had departed except for the three he had been waiting to hear from the most, he got started. "Well now that that's out of the way, we can get into the meat of things. How are your classes going?"

Minerva, as he expected, gave glowing praise to Potter and Black, with Potter being just a hair better. It didn't surprise Albus considering their fathers. "They are very respectable in class and they excelled in the match to needle transfiguration. Draco Malfoy came the closest to them in Slytherin, although Miss Granger got hers in record time as well, almost as quickly as Mr. Potter."

Severus was less enthused. "They are competent and answer every question I throw at them. I wouldn't say that they are the best of the student body, but they are the best in their year. Longbottom is quite useless and I expect that my nerves will be quite frayed by the end of the year." Albus thought he caught Minerva rolling her eyes and Edward shaking his head in exasperation and quite agreed with their sentiments.

Edward was much the same as Minerva. "Harry and Cassie are both quite intelligent and obviously know quite a lot for their year and it makes sense considering their fathers are aurors. I'd put them on level with the best of my third years. As for Neville…" He shrugged. "He can answer questions but I think him using his father's wand has been a detriment. He's very determined but you can see the self-doubt." Much the same as Minerva's opinion on the boy. "But Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are doing very well. Miss Granger answers just about every question I have asked and she's very respectful in doing so."

"I do tend to agree that Miss Granger is going to be one to look out for. But on the subject of Longbottom, if he had his own wand, I'm sure he'd be better at it. His mother was very good in transfiguration and his father was a star in defense." Minerva inserted.

This did cause Edward some irritation. "I wish we'd stop comparing the boy to Alice and Frank. He's not them. He has his own strengths and weaknesses. Professor Sprout said that she hardly has to give him any instruction in Herbology because he's taken such a shine to it. Transfiguration may not be where his talent lies, new wand or not. The same with potions and defense. Let the boy be his own person!"

Minerva huffed in indignation. "I'm merely stating the facts, and I'm well aware that he is his own person. But really Edward, you can't tell me you don't do the same thing with Potter and Black."

"I do, to an extent. But I don't ever think that they should be a certain way just because their parents are or were. Neville has a lot of self-doubt and I think that if he gets a new wand that works better for him, it'll boost his confidence up. But I in no way will push him to be exactly like his parents. He's already got that ridiculous boy-who-lived moniker to live up to, we don't need to heap more onto his shoulders than he's able to take."

Albus nodded. "Indeed. I shall contact Augusta as soon as possible about a new wand. But I tend to agree with Edward. Let's step back and let him grow into his own person."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Good luck getting that stubborn woman to agree. She's set in her ways. And I never said not to let him be his own person."

"Frank and Alice's deaths hit her hard." Edward agreed. "She probably wants Neville to be just like them."

Severus sighed irritably. "That is beside the point. The point is, that as of now, Longbottom has much room to grow." Edward and Minerva nodded at the truth behind the words.

"Very well then, I do believe that you three have better things to do than banter with an old man, you may go." As they left, Albus sighed to himself and looked at Fawkes, his phoenix familiar. "Ahh my old friend, he has plenty of time to grow and we must be there to aid him." Fawkes trilled in agreement. "He has a great task ahead of him."

Edward and Severus sat in Edward's office, two glasses of firewhiskey in their hands. "To the end of week one!" They clinked their glasses together and downed them in one go. Severus grimaced as the liquid went down his throat and the smoke shot out of his ears. He placed his glass down and looked Edward dead in the eyes.

"So, I take it Albus has decided not to hide the stone here?"

"Blimey, going for the hard topics already I see. Well, to answer your question, no the stone isn't here. Flamel decided that it'd be far safer on his island where Voldemort will not be able to touch it with his wards defending it."

Severus nodded. "I agree with that. It's far safer away from the children."

"As if you care for the children." Edward snorted.

"Not really no, but it's common sense. I don't care for children, but I wouldn't ever put them in danger on purpose."

"No, you wouldn't. Neither would Albus, not purposefully anyway. It did take quite a bit of convincing but in the end, he saw things my way."

Snape nodded. "He usually listens to you."

"Not always. But most of the time." Edward filled his glass again and took a drink. "You know, it'd be so much easier on us if we went to these muggleborns earlier, teach them about our world. That way we don't have to start from the bottom. I mean, we know about each magical child that's born. Why not take advantage of that?"

Severus shrugged. "Our world is backwards."

"Indeed, ass backwards." Severus smirked as he took another drink. This time, it didn't burn so much going down.

Monday morning, as they were leaving Potions, Hermione Granger was in her element. She was explaining to Ron, or at least attempting to explain, how she had achieved the results she had. Ron seemed to be listening but she wasn't sure. Suddenly, someone bumped into her rather harshly and as she turned to confront that person, she was met with a glare from Pansy Parkinson. "Would you just shut up, you know-it-all mudblood!" Then she turned and stormed off.

Hermione was in shock, not even noticing Ron shouting at Pansy. Ron had said his piece, earning a glare from a passing prefect, but he ignored it and turned to Hermione. "Don't listen to her Hermione, I think you're bloody brilliant." Beside him, Neville was nodding his head frantically. "I wouldn't have done as well as I did today without your help and neither would Neville!" Again, Neville was nodding, a smile on his face.

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Harry Potter looking at her. "Are you alright?" When she just nodded, he continued. "Look, don't listen to her, she's just jealous because she's as dim as a mountain troll. But look, go to Professor Riddle and tell him what that pug faced troll said."

But Hermione was shaking her head. "I don't want to bother him with something so simple."

Harry wasn't having that. "No, it's not that simple. Look, promise me you'll go to him tonight after supper and talk to him. She shouldn't go unpunished for what she said. You're really smart and you didn't deserve that."

She was so touched by his kindness that she just nodded. "Alright, I'll go to him tonight, for whatever good it'll do." Harry just smiled, nodded at Neville and Ron, and left with Cassie, who just smiled and waved at her.

She was broken out of her reverie by Neville. "Don't worry Hermione, Harry wouldn't lead you wrong."

She frowned. "How would you know?"

"Because I grew up with those two." He had a smile on his face as she processed that.

At the end of classes Monday evening, Edward was writing logs beside the names of each student so that he could keep up with their performance. It was a way to make sure that he kept them from stagnating and stalling. He was currently updating the log of Percy Weasley when he heard a tentative knock on his door causing his head to shoot up. "Come in." To his surprise, a very nervous Hermione Granger walked into his office. He blinked several times before speaking. "Miss Granger, aren't you a little lost?"

She bites her lip before replying. "No, Professor, I-I came to see you."

Edward raised a brow in surprise. "Really? Well then have a seat. What can I help you with?"

"W-well, I wasn't going to waste your time with this, but Harry insisted that I go to you."

This caught his attention. He hadn't been aware that Harry and Granger were even friends. "Well, you'd better tell me what's on your mind." He gestured for her to speak.

"W-we were had just left Potions, and I was talking to Ron Weasley and telling him how I got my potion right. He wasn't really listening, but he pretended to, I guess to make me feel better." Edward doubted that. He knew the boy and figured that Ron really had been listening. "Anyway, I was talking to him and Pansy Parkinson came up from behind me and called me a know-it-all mudblood." Edward felt his blood begin to boil as he clenched his fists. "I didn't think this was worth your time to bring to your attention, I don't even know what that word means, but Harry insisted."

Edward let out a breath. "You were correct in bringing this to my attention Miss Granger. The word is used by blood purists to describe muggleborns. It means 'dirty blood' and is one of the worst insults you could throw at someone of muggle descent." Hermione's eyes got wide in shock. "Let me take a guess, you got better marks on your potion than she did?" The girl nodded. "A lot of purebloods get flustered and upset when muggleborns do better than they do so they resort to insults like the children they are. It doesn't excuse it though. Don't worry Miss Granger, I'll take care of the problem."

She nodded gratefully, glancing at him as he took up his quill to make a note on Parkinson. "Sir, why doesn't the wizarding world use pens?"

The professor chuckled. "It's another one of those wizarding things. They're too proud to allow the use of them. I personally prefer the pen. It's much easier to write with and I don't have to keep dipping it in ink. Unfortunately, our world is still several centuries behind the muggle world." He grimaced. "If it ever came to war, we'd lose simply because of their advanced weaponry. We don't stand a chance against nuclear weapons. And they advance more and more every year, we'd be fools to pick a fight with them." Hermione nodded. "But we'd also be fools to reveal ourselves. There are too many muggles that would want us dead simply for religious reasons. No, we need to remain separate for now, but that doesn't mean we need to pick a fight with them, and it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't learn from them."

"Do you think that there will be a time when the magical world can reveal itself?"

"Maybe, but it won't be in my lifetime or yours. Now then, I think it's time for you to be off to bed Miss Granger." He smiled. "But if you ever want to talk, my door is open although Professor McGonagall is an apt listener as well should you ever need to talk about girl things."

"Thank you, professor." Hermione said with a small smile.

Edward sighed as she left and the door shut. "Inquisitive girl that one." With a chuckle, he went back to working on his reports, writing a note to McGonagall as he went.

The next night, a scowling Pansy Parkinson sat in Professor McGonagall's classroom writing lines. As she finished her fourth page, she set it aside and looked at the Professor expectantly. "Grab another piece of parchment Miss Parkinson, I'll let you know when you're done." The disappointment was heavy in the air around her. "Perhaps this will teach you not to resort to vulgar and offensive terms when someone does better than you, but to accept it with grace."

The girl scowled even further but kept writing, mumbling to herself. "What was that Miss Parkinson?"

"Nothing Professor."

"That's what I thought. Now keep writing, you still have a couple of hours to curfew." Pansy whimpered but continued to write, "I will not insult like a spoiled child when someone does better than me, but take it with grace and acceptance." on the parchment, adding to the pile that she had been making. She still had three nights of this to go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclimer: I do not own Harry Potter!**

Friday night in the Great Hall, Edward smiled slightly at the sight of Parkinson glaring daggers at Hermione, who ate while ignoring the other girl. With a chuckle, Edward got up to leave, nodding to the Headmaster as he walked by. Getting to his office, he entered and went straight to his desk, pulling out a piece of folded up parchment. He tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He then stored the map on the inside of his cloak and left the office to begin his patrol. The Marauders Map that he carried was not the original. The original map had been confiscated by Filtch years before. Edward had long thought of retrieving it but had decided to leave it and decided to create new maps for the group. Together, the four of them, with some input from Lily, had created the new maps. The main reason for each member having one, was so that if they needed to get to Hogwarts for any reason, they'd come in handy. He knew for a fact that Lily had a habit of using her husband's map to watch Harry's dot on the map throughout the day. But a couple of years ago, he had discovered that the Weasley Twins had taken the original map from Filtch's office and were using it in their pranks. Edward could've confiscated it, but decided against it and allowed the pranksters to do their work so long as they didn't get caught.

Edward watched as the hours wound down until the hallways were dark and empty. He patrolled these empty hallways, making sure that no student was out and about when they weren't supposed to be. Tonight, however, was a different matter. He had spotted the Weasley twins on his map heading towards the one of the secret tunnels that ended up outside. He grunted in irritation that his sleep would get cut down on since this was extra work. _They better hope I don't catch them, or there will be hell to pay._ So, with a sigh, he made his way out of the castle, determined to make sure the twins weren't doing anything foolish in the forbidden forest. Not for the first time did he curse himself for not actually bringing his own map from his office. As he made his way onto the grounds, he stopped cold, a feeling of dread in his stomach. He turned to see a dark figure staring out at him from the forest. "Well now, this is a surprise."

The figure said nothing and Edward could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise up. He knew exactly who this was and refused to show even an ounce of fear. "I don't know why you came, the stone isn't here." The creature jerked back in surprise which gave Edward a grim sort of satisfaction. _So I'm right after all._ "Did you really think that I'd allow Albus to hide it here? In a school? I didn't know that you were that foolish." A low growl could be heard from underneath the hood. Edward merely smiled coldly. "Don't like that do you? Well bloody do something about it. No? That's what I though." The creature glared daggers at him, at least that's what he thought it was doing since he couldn't see a face. "So leave, and if I see you again I'll make you bodiless once more. I'm not the child I was the last time we fought, and you are much weaker than you were then. So go, you filthy little parasite before I change my mind!" The growling got louder but the creature backed away into the forest, disappearing from sight.

Edward heaved a sigh before continuing on his way, he'd make sure to report this to Albus in the morning.

 _The next day…_

"You're telling me that you actually saw Voldemort here last night?"

"I think it was Voldemort. If felt like him although how he obtained a body I'm not sure."

"It's possible he was possessing someone or something."

"That was my thought as well."

Albus sighed tiredly. "Well, in any case, I'm glad it was you who saw him and not a student. Or Hagrid, for that matter."

Edward smiled. "I'm glad you put such faith in me Headmaster."

"Indeed, you're not easily frightened."

"You can't afford to be when you've seen some of the things I've seen."

"No, I imagine not."

Edward nodded and was about to leave when the headmaster stopped him. "I'd actually like your opinion on another matter Edward. You see, Professor Collins is leaving us at the end of the year and I'll need a new Muggle Studies Professor to replace him for the coming year."

Edward raised a brow, not sure why Dumbledore was coming to him about staffing issues. "Well, I suppose as long as he or she is muggleborn it should be fine. You know the last several professors were pureblood, and it makes more sense to have it be a muggleborn since, you know, they were born and raised in that world."

Albus nodded thoughtfully. "Agreed. I thought you'd feel the same way so I took the liberty of hiring miss Laura Baxter. She was the only muggleborn applicant and was also at the top of her classes in her year. She is however, only four years out of school so she's quite young."

Edward shrugged. "I was also pretty young if you remember. But I also think that she'll be able to better relate to the muggleborn students since she's still young. But why ask me to begin with?"

The old man beamed at this. "I wanted to be sure that I was not the only one who felt that way. But indeed, her age is no issue, however, perhaps you could show her around over the summer? I'd ask Severus, but you're a bit more personable than he is."

Edward just rolled his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal. "Sure, no problem Albus. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go grade reports." Albus nodded as the younger man left, a small smile on his face.

Harry, Draco, and Cassie made their way to Hagrid's hut after they had finished their weekend homework. "I wonder if he has his pumpkins for Halloween planted yet?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Knowing Hagrid, most definitely. I can't wait to see how big they get!" Cassie said excitedly.

Draco strode ahead and knocked on Hagrid's door. They heard a dog barking from within the hut. "Down Fang! Be quiet boy!" The door opened and Hagrid looked out at them, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Hello you lot! It's about time you came for a visit! Come in! Come in and I'll get you all a spot of tea." Hagrid moved to his stove, putting the kettle on and waited for the water to boil. "So, how's classes going?"

Harry spoke up first. "Great so far. Although history of magic could be better."

"Yeah, old Binns has been at it for a while. Eddie has tried to get Professor Dumbledore to replace him for years but the Headmaster won't do it. Said it wouldn't be right to defy a man's last wishes to continue teaching."

"Even if their lessons are practically useless." It was Draco that spoke up this time.

Hagrid chuckled. "Yeah, most students do their own reading and studying."

"I guess that's just what we'll have to do that as well." Cassie shrugged.

The tea kettle shrieked and Hagrid poured up the tea, distributing it to his three guests. Harry noticed the headline on the Daily Prophet and frowned. "Someone tried to rob Gringotts?"

Hagrid looked confused for a moment before realizing what Harry was talking about. "Oh, yea. Don't know who'd be crazy enough to do that."

Cassie snatched the paper away from Harry, ignoring his protests, and read through it. "It says that the vault was already empty. Why would someone try to get into an empty vault?"

"Oh I don't know genius; they must have thought something was in there." Draco answered sarcastically.

Cassie narrowed her eyes at the boy, but before she could respond, Hagrid spoke up. "Well the fact is, they didn't get anything. I'm sure Gringotts and the Ministry will figure it out eventually." The three students nodded and continued drinking their tea, telling Hagrid about their week and completely forgetting about the discarded paper.

Edward on the other hand, was not forgetting about the paper, slamming it on Severus' desk furiously. "How in the bloody hell did he get past the goblins!?" Severus just shrugged in response whilst Edward paced around the office. "You'd think that they'd have stronger protections than that with all the money they have!"

"I don't suppose you're going to calm down any time soon?" Edward glared at the man, still pacing. "Well would you at least quit pacing, it's giving me a headache." Edward snorted but still complied. "I don't see why this is such a big deal, it's not like the stone was actually there."

"Maybe not, but what if it had? What if Albus had been foolish enough to actually accept the stone? Voldemort may very well have the stone by now!"

"But he doesn't. So, there's no point in dwelling on it now." Edward scowled but nodded. "Besides, the stone isn't here, so what is there to be worried about."

Edward sighed, shaking his head to clear it. "You're right of course. I just worry about him coming back. I know he'll find a way eventually, but it worries me immensely."

Severus frowned. "You're afraid you won't be able to stand up to him?" Edward just smiled tiredly at him in response. "Hmm, I'm surprised. But being afraid is intelligent. We are talking about one of the most powerful dark lords in history. But you're much more powerful than you were the last time you fought him."

"Perhaps, but it doesn't stop me from worrying. I don't know how much stronger I've become and I won't know how powerful he really is until I face him. And I don't know if I'll be able to beat him. He's the biggest ghost of my past. He is my demon. In order to prove that I'm not my father, in order to prove that I am better than him, I have to be able to beat him. I have to topple my fear, and I'm not sure I can do that." At that, Severus had nothing to say.

Neville was having a rather rough first year. Two of his best friends were in a completely different house than him and he often found himself alone. Granted, he had Ron who hung out with him often, and Hermione was a good friend as well. But they didn't really share the same interests as he did. He didn't see himself as all that brave or studious. But he did his best not to isolate himself. He tried his best to fit in with them.

The worst part of the year though, had been Potions class hands down. He didn't think there was a meaner person alive other than Severus Snape. He was always breathing down his neck and belittled him constantly and at every turn! Of course, he wasn't the only one that Snape picked on, he hated all Gryffindors. He always took points from them and he favored the Slytherins heavily, giving them points for anything under the sun.

McGonagall on the other hand, was fair. Even though she was head of Gryffindor, she displayed equal treatment to all. But she clearly had her favorites. While she was nice to him, and helped him as much as she could, she clearly favored Harry and Cassie over anyone else. Neville figured it had something to do with their fathers being James Potter and Sirius Black more than anything else. Of course, them being very good at Transfiguration probably didn't hurt either.

Charms was rather fun, even if he rarely ever got a spell to work. Flitwick was a patient teacher, always smiling no matter how clumsy he was. The only class that Neville excelled at was Herbology, a class that few others took seriously at all.

Neville sighed to himself as he turned a corner, nearly running right in to Professor Riddle. "Oomph, sorry professor, I wasn't paying much attention there."

The Professor just smiled. "Fear not Longbottom, no harm was done. Though I must ask, what has you so deep in thought?"

Neville blushed in embarrassment. "I was just thinking about how disappointed Mum and Dad would be right now." He muttered but the Professor frowned, worry creasing his brow.

"Why in the name of Merlin would you think that?"

At that point, Neville got irritated. "Because I'm a bloody failure! I can't do anything, I can't cast anything, I can't brew potions! The only bloody thing I'm even half decent at is Herbology! Everyone has these big expectations for me because of something I can't even remember doing! They think I'm some great wizard. Well I'm not! I'm just Neville! I'm an invalid who's not even worth wasting a new wand on!"

Neville was breathing heavily, trying to regain his composure when, "Are you quite finished now? Because I don't want to hear your pity party. So what if you're only good at Herbology? Embrace it! Be the best you can be at it! But don't bloody give up. You're afraid of disappointing your parents? Well they really would be disappointed if you didn't at least try! No one who matters expects you to be anything other than yourself. And if this is coming on because of Professor Snape then I'll have a nice conversation with him about bullying if I have to! You're a great kid Neville, and I know that your parents are proud of you."

"Gram doesn't think so." Neville muttered dejectedly.

"Well then she doesn't matter. Just continue being you. Be confident in yourself and the rest will come to you. One day she'll see you as her grandson, Neville Longbottom, not as some reincarnation of her son. And if I have to get Lily to guilt trip her into getting you your own damn wand then I will."

Neville smiled at him. "Mrs. Potter won't like you cursing."

Edward smiled back. "Well if you don't tell her about mine, I won't tell her about yours."

Neville grinned. "Thanks Professor, I really needed that."

"That's what I'm here for Mr. Longbottom. Now, off you go." Neville was smiling as he walked away, smiling for the first time in what seemed like a long time.

Edward was walking back towards his classroom where his office was, when he came upon another student. "Mr. Weasley, what are you doing all by yourself?"

The boy huffed, trying to regain his breath. "I was…. trying to…. find Neville…sir."

Edward chuckled. "I just passed by him a moment ago, going around that corner there. If you hurry, you'll probably catch him."

"Thank you…sir."

Edward noticed the boy's rat squirming and noticed something odd. "Mr. Weasley, didn't your brother Percy have a rat like that one?"

"Yes sir! He gave it to me for my first year. I think he's rather pathetic myself sir, but he's alright. Likes my sister Ginny a lot though which is kind of weird since she absolutely hates him. Gives her the creeps."

Edwards mind was working in overdrive at this point. _Bloody hell that rat must be at least 10 years old! Wait, Percy had him as a first year which was five years ago._ "Ron, when did your brother first find Scabbers?"

Ron frowned in thought. "Must've been…10 years ago now."

Edwards blood ran cold as he took in the rat's appearance. He was brown with several spots of grey, a little plump but not overly so. Finally, what caught his eye was the right front paw. He was missing a finger. "Mr. Weasley, can I see him for a moment?" Confused, Ron nodded as he handed the rat over. Edward carefully, yet firmly, gripped the animal as it squirmed to get away, far more so now than before, thrashing wildly, but Edward's grip was like iron as he became more and more convinced that his hunch was correct. The little beast had been hiding up under his nose all this time. All the times when he and Sirius visited the Burrow and the rat was nowhere to be found, Percy looking for it relentlessly. All the times that it always seemed to disappear when Percy came to Hogwarts all made sense now. _There are no such thing as magical rats, and rats certainly don't live for ten years or more._ "Let me show you an interesting spell Mr. Weasley, one that you can do on any animal you find."

Ron looked interested now. "Really Professor? It won't hurt him, will it?"

"Oh no Mr. Weasley." Oh, how he wished he could make it hurt. "But it's really simple and it's paramount to use this to ensure you are not being watched unknowingly." Ron looked really excited now as he nodded. Oh, how his world was about to shatter. Edward pointed his wand at the squirming rat in his hand and spoke the incantation. " _Hormorphus!"_ Edward had to drop the rat as paws became arms and hands, the tail disappeared, and the rat grew and changed until it was no longer a rat, but a man. A man that found himself staring at the end of Edward's wand. "Hello Peter, my old friend." His voice was dangerous and what were once blue eyes were now crimson red as blood turned to rage. This was the man that had betrayed his best friends to Voldemort. This is the man that had been fine with seeing the death of an innocent child. This is the man that had caused the deaths of so many. All to save his own, wretched hide.

Before the sad, pathetic little man could even speak, he was stunned. "And that, Mr. Weasley, is the animagus revealing charm, Hormorphus." Ron stood there, horror etched on his face. "Don't fret if you don't remember it this time, I imagine that you're in quite a shock. But I will teach it to you again in your third year and Flitwick will probably teach it to you in your fifth year, if he doesn't retire after next year. Anyway, you should probably come with me and this traitor up to Professor Dumbledore's office. He'll be interested to know how you helped me apprehend this traitor." Ron seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and simply nodded as Edward turned, grabbing the little man on the ground and drug him as Ron hurried to follow him.

The next three hours went by in a flurry of activity. Ron had forgotten what he had even been trying to do beforehand. Several aurors had arrived. Among them, Harry and Cassie's dads were there along with their friend Remus Lupin. It was obvious why they'd be there, Peter had been their friend. It had been them, more than anyone else, that the rat had betrayed. Ron thought that if not for Dumbledore and Amelia Bones, the head of magical law enforcement, being there, Potter and Black may have killed their former friend.

But Ron remembered most clearly still, the look his defense Professor had on his face when they had first caught Peter, the danger in his voice, and the way his eyes had changed. Ron wondered if that had been the face deatheaters had been privy to in the first war. He shivered at the thought of facing anything like that and gained a new respect for the Professor. He also made sure to remember that spell. He'd master it and surprise Professor Riddle in two years when he would teach it to them and find that Ron had indeed remembered that moment.

Edward was certain that Sirius was going to kill Peter before they got him in his cell to await trial. The look on the man's face was the picture of absolute rage. He sighed and caught Remus' eye. They'd have to alert Walburga so she could calm him down, it wouldn't do for Peter to die before he could face what he had done.

On the other hand, he sympathized with Sirius. Because of Peter's betrayal, Cassie did not have a mother. Because of peter, Sirius lost half of his being. At least the woman Edward loved was still alive, even if the situation was impossible, she was still there, breathing. While poor Marlene was dead, gone from the world forever. Edward still remembered the wedding, as grand as Sirius' ego could be, but he had done it all for her. Walburga had been insistent on lavishing the bride to be with whatever she wanted, if only to make her dead husband roll in his grave. Sirius had been beside himself with joy, happier than Edward had ever seen him before and would only be rivaled with the arrival of his daughter not two years later, just before James and Lily would bring Harry into the world. Sirius had never been as happy since then, and Edward suspected that he'd never find that true happiness again.

So, it made perfect sense that Sirius would be eager for revenge, so Edward took it upon himself to remind Sirius why he decided to become an auror in the first place. So, he pulled his best friend aside. "Can you believe we finally have him!?" Sirius exclaimed excitedly.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Sirius just nodded, glaring at Peter as he was escorted to the apparition point in Hogsmeade. "Sirius, you aren't thinking of doing something rash, are you?"

Sirius looked at him confused. "What do you-oh." Edward watched as the realization dawned on him. Sirius wasn't nearly as dim witted as some people thought he was. Sirius was extremely intelligent, and could be very sharp and calculating when the situation called for it. Sirius sighed and answered him. I thought about it, when we first found out that you had him, good on you by the way mate. But then I remembered that I joined the aurors for justice, so that Marlene's death wouldn't be in vain. There have been nights when I've dreamt of nothing else but to murder the little bastard, but I know that Marlene wouldn't like that." Sirius looked tired, but there was a new light in his eyes. "I can rest now, knowing that the reason she died will face the justice he so rightly deserves."

Edward smiled at his brother and clapped him on the shoulder. "Fatherhood has done you good my friend." Sirius snorted. "That and knowing that Lily would do far worse to me if I ever dishonored Marlene's memory." Edward laughed then, harder than he had in years. "That she would mate, that she would." Sirius then too dissolved into laughter, failing to notice the woman approaching them until she cleared her throat. Sirius, seeing who it was, gained control of himself and straightened immediately while Edward took a moment longer to regain his normal composure.

"Gentlemen."

"Madam Bones." They chorused.

"I'm glad to see you two enjoying yourselves so much." The two men blushed. "No worries though, it's been a long road for you four. I think I'll give you a few days off Sirius. You, James, and Remus have earned the time. Robards can hold the fort while you get ready for the trial." She turned her attention to Edward. "You however, are not going to be pleased." Edward frowned, but motioned for her to continue. "You see, I've just gotten a firecall from Minister Fudge, the Wizengamot wants you, and you alone to testify against Peter Pettigrew."

"What! Why?" Sirius was indignant while Edward just stood thoughtfully.

"They feel like he has the most to give. He was there when you decided on him as secret keeper, and he was pivotal in stopping Voldemort that fateful night at the Potters' home."

Sirius made another indignant noise while Edward looked irritated. "Very well Madam Bones, I'll testify on one condition." Amelia gave him the go ahead. "I'll testify, but not alone. Tell the Wizengamot that anyone who knew Peter should be given the opportunity to testify."

Amelia nodded in agreement. "Of course, I'll make sure that is made clear to them. Thank you for your time Professor." Edward nodded as Bones walked away.

Sirius turned to his friend. "Are you sure about this?"

Edward nodded. "Yes I am. You should get the chance to testify. If anyone deserves it, it's you my friend."

Sirius suddenly looked very emotional. "Thank you Eddie, thank you so much for this." Edward could only smile. While he wasn't particularly looking forward to the trial, he was glad that Sirius, James, and Remus would get their closure, and that is what was really important here, not only justice, but closure.

 **Happy Halloween everyone! I know it's tomorrow, not today, but I figured I'd give you an early Halloween gift, a new chapter! Just finished it today in fact. This one I think had a little more emotion in it because yes, closure is so important. I had to deal with Neville feeling inferior. Plus, Edward's own fears. Anyway, Peter has been caught! But the trial is still to come! Next chapter, you'll find out what happened on that fated night! Please review and leave any questions you may have in a PM! I know Harry hasn't much been featured so far but this is a very OC centric story. But I promise, I'll have more Harry in future chapters, especially once Ginny properly joins us in year 2! I hope you guys like this chapter! Have a great week and a fun, happy Halloween!**


	4. Chapter 4

Edward cracked his neck as he stood outside the courtroom next to his friends, and a few others who were set to testify. Minerva was there as was Snape, and a few others he didn't recognize. Amelia was confident they'd get a strong guilty verdict. No one had come forward to defend Peter and veritaserum had been deemed unnecessary by a vote, which gave Edward pause as he remembered that many in that room had been former deatheaters who still very strongly believed in their pureblood dogma. They were the ones that had gotten away by pleading imperius. It had frustrated him to no end that those cretins got to influence the world the way they did. But it also showed how little loyalty mattered to them.

Edward was pulled out of his reverie by the doors opening and they were ushered inside. The courtroom was large and circular, allowing for the press to get in along with quite a few people from the wizarding public. Up on a raised platform sat the Wizengamot, all dressed in black robes and wearing serious looks on their faces. Edward had never liked courtrooms, even less so than the hospitals that so often smelled like death. Courtrooms embodied hopelessness and fear. Young men who had been forced by circumstances beyond their control to do things that they wouldn't normally do, Edward had seen many of them right where Peter was now sitting, chained to the chair with a look of absolute dread on his face. Except Peter was getting what he deserved, even if Edward wouldn't wish Peter's fate on his worst enemy. Peter was worse than that though, he was a betrayer, a coward of the worst kind. Willing to sacrifice others so that he may live.

With a sigh, Edward took his place next to Sirius as the trial began. Albus stood from his spot as Chief Warlock and cleared his throat to speak. "Friends, we are gathered here today to discuss the level of guilt, and ultimately the fate of Peter Pettigrew." The crowd whispered loudly at that but Albus held up a hand to silence them. "Bring in the witnesses." The aurors gestured and the group of people who were to testify against Peter, or to give some sort of testimony, entered into the courtroom. Edward glanced at the crowd, noting several students in the crowd, children of prominent pureblood families. The one that stood out the most in that moment, was Neville. His face was pale, as if he were a muggle seeing a ghost for the first time. And he could see Augusta sitting next to him, clutching his hand tightly. Her lips were a thin line as she glared daggers at the rodent that had betrayed her son and his wife.

Edward brought his eyes to the front of him, determined not to show weakness. The group came to a special section of seats where the witnesses were to be sat. As Edward took his seat, he caught Peter looking his and Sirius' way, pleading evident on his face. Edward gave no outward sign as he took his seat, shoving his boiling anger into a pot to sit. He glanced at Albus, who looked at Peter, a sadness etched into his face as he looked at his formal pupil. Edward felt no such sadness, only the regret that he had not caught the little rat sooner.

He looked to his left where Lily sat with Harry, Emma, and Cassie next to the Weasleys, who were even paler than Neville if it were possible. Lily was consoling Molly while Arthur sat, gripping the shoulders of Ron and Percy. Ginny was the strongest of the group. Her little head was held high as she glared at the man who had been squatting under her family's roof for the last 10 years. Edward knew that if looks could kill, Peter would be dead 10 times over. "Now that we are all assembled here, let the trial of Peter Pettigrew begin!"

The time passed by, hours it seemed, as testimony after testimony was given. Some were given with tears, some with anger, and some with hatred. But they were given all the same. Minerva McGonagall gave it, looking down her nose at Peter the entire time like she had caught him doing something he shouldn't and was about to give him detention. Snape gave his calmly, a look of absolute contempt on his face. James and Remus gave theirs calmly, yet there was a shaking anger there. Remus admitted that he had little contact with Peter after graduation because of his duties for the Order in trying to get the Werewolf packs away from Greyback's influence. But he spoke of their time in school, and about how Peter had always been a bit of a coward on his own, seeking glory behind James and Sirius.

Sirius was perhaps the most heartbreaking. He didn't yell or scream. He didn't use profanity; which Edward knew Lily was happy for. But there was a heavy grief in his voice, a sadness that struck almost every member of the Wizengamot. He even described the meeting where they had announced that Marlene was pregnant, and the one when they found out that Marlene and her parents had been killed in their home. Peter had been missing that night. Edward suspected that Peter had probably even been there.

In the end, though, it all came down to him. He stood and made his way to the witness chair, sitting in it with care. He finally began to show some emotion. It wasn't grief for Peter or whatever friendship they might have had, it was for all the people that had died because of him. "Edward, can you please describe to us the night of October 31st, 1981?"

Edward nodded and dredged up those haunted memories and began reliving them. "Sirius and I had always planned on visiting him on a weekly basis, to make sure he was doing alright and to make sure he had everything he needed. That night, we got there earlier than normal to find the house empty. There was no sign of struggle. Peter it seemed, had left on his own accord. The first thing we thought was perhaps he had been hungry and had decided to get something to eat, so we waited. An hour later when he didn't show, we apparated to Godric's Hallow to check on the Potters."

 _That night…_

"James! Lily!" Sirius burst into the little home, Edward right behind him.

"Sirius, what in the world is going on?" Lily cried as they came into the sitting room. James was confused but Harry was giggling, reaching for Sirius. Sirius' worried face broke out into a small grin as he lifted his Godson off the couch. "We need to get you three to a safe place. Peter has gone missing."

"Missing? What do you mean missing?"

"He's gone James, poof, disappeared, vanished!"

Edward, having been quiet up to that point, spoke up. "I don't think he's vanished, but I do think we need to get you to safety. If Peter has been compromised, then there's no telling how long we have." Just then the door burst open, causing every adult in the room to whip their wands out, only to put them away as a haggard Remus entered the room.

"Remus mate, what's wrong with you?"

"There's news James!" Remus paused to catch his breath. "Voldemort is making his move tonight….a spy they say….has given him your location!"

"B-but that would mean…"

"That Peter was the traitor this entire time." Edward finished grimly.

Remus frowned. "I thought it was Sirius..." Remus trailed off, clearly confused.

"That was the original plan, but we decided to play a prank on old voldyshorts. Though it looks like the joke is on us Mooney." Sirius had a grim look on his face.

Remus scowled. "We'll talk about this later, but right now we need to move." Suddenly, the hairs on Edwards neck stood straight as the feeling of anti-apparition and anti portkey wards fell into place.

"Blast it! He's here!" Raising his wand, he brought it down with a snarl, tearing the wards down as they went up. "Padfoot, get them the portkey and get them the bloody hell out of here now! Remus, with me." The two of them stood ready in front of the door, waiting for their enemy to blast it down, when the woosh of a portkey activation happened and Padfoot and James joined them. "You two should have gone with them."

James scowled. "We're not leaving you to face him alone. We're brothers and brothers stick together."

Edward rolled his eyes but a smile crept onto his face. "As the muggle saying goes, All for one and one for all."

"Now you've got it!" The grin on James' face was infectious though the worry was still there.

Their moment was torn away as the door literally disintegrated in front of them. Before them stood Voldemort, a look of surprise on his face. "Well now, how unexpected."

Edward responded by sending a blasting hex at his father and the 4 on 1 duel began.

Remus and Edward took the front as James and Sirius spread out on either side, hoping that one of their spells would catch him. The sky was alight with flashes and bangs as the duel went on. "You fools cannot hope to defeat me!" None of them rose to the verbal bait. Remus dodged a curse and sent a patronus message off to alert the order when another hex caught him unawares, flinging him into the stone graveyard wall.

"Remus!" James roared as he hurled more curses at Voldemort, he made his way to an unconscious Remus.

"One down, and only three to go!" Voldemort had a delighted look on his face.

"Perhaps a few more than 3 Tom." Surprised, Voldemort barely dodged the disembowelment curse that Edward had thrown at him.

"Dumbledore!" Voldemort snarled as he twisted and apparated away.

"Mrs. Tonks, if you will go see to Remus."

Andromeda nodded as she made her way to Remus, glaring at Sirius who immediately realized that there were a lot of wands pointing at him, he immediately panicked and apparated away. "Sirius wait!" James too apparated after his friend.

Edward shook his head, knowing that he'd have to have that conversation with Dumbledore later. "Albus, there's no time to waste, we need to check on the Longbottoms!" Without waiting for a reply, Edward apparated to where the Longbottoms were staying. A small cottage not far from Godric's Hallow situated in the corner of the neighborhood. Edward made his way to the door, which was hanging off of one hinged. He stepped through to find Frank lying face down in the hall, dead. His eyes were vacant. Edward swallowed the lump in his throat, and walked to the nursery, afraid of what he would see.

Pushing the door open, he saw Alice on the ground, eyes also unseeing and vacant. In front of her body lay a bundle of black robes littered with ash. "His own curse rebounded." Edward muttered to himself. A baby's cry led him to the crib where baby Neville stood, reaching for his mother, crying. It was a scene which would haunt Edward's nightmares for years to come.

 _Present…_

"I'll never forget that scene for as long as I live. Afterward, I spoke with Dumbledore and told him about how Sirius and Peter had switched places to throw off Voldemort. Of course, we found out that is exactly what he had hoped would happen." Edward took that moment to look Peter right in his beady eyes. "I hope you remember Peter. At night when you're cowering in your cell, I hope you remember what you caused. I hope you remember the pain your cowardice brought. And I hope that every time the dementors cross your cell door, I hope that you hear the screams of everyone that died because of you. That is what I hope for you. That is the only thing you deserve for your sins. I want you to remember though, that I never trusted you, no matter what James or Sirius told me. I never really trusted you. And I want you to know that my mistrust was justified, and that in the end, you proved me right about you all along." And with that, Edward nodded to Albus, who nodded back, and was allowed to go back to his seat.

The rest of the trial ended rather quickly. After conferring for a 30-minute period, Albus stood back up on his podium. "All in favor of a guilty verdict, raise your wand arms." Every arm in the Wizengamot went up. Edward spotted Malfoy looking at Peter with a cold and calculating stare. After the hands went down Albus spoke again. "All opposed?" When no arm went up, Albus nodded. "Very well, Peter Pettigrew, I sentence you to 20 years in Azkaban Prison. After which, you will be given the dementor's kiss for your heinous crimes."

The aurors, which had been standing solid still since the beginning of the trial, sprang to life. They grabbed Peter in vice grips as the prisoner plead. "Please no! Please I beg of you! Have mercy!" Edward just watched as the man whom he had once called friend was drug away to face what he had done. Afterward, he hurried away before he could be stopped and apparated back to Hogwarts.

Later that night, Edward sat in his office, the door shut to all who would wish to enter. He nursed a glass of firewhiskey, not really drinking it, just reflecting. The truth was, he had trusted Peter. Perhaps not the way that James and Sirius had done so, but he had. Edward's head shot up as the lock on the door clicked and opened, revealing Lily standing on the other side. Edward sighed. "You would be the one to figure out the password on that door."

She only looked at him sadly for a moment. "Hey big brother." It was the nickname she had given him in their younger years. He had been one of the few Slytherins who had been friendly to her and she clung to that friendship. She had friends in Gryffindor of course, but Edward had always acted the part of older brother. Edward closed his eyes as the tears came. "I don't know why I'm crying, it's not like he didn't deserve it." Lily only came forward and rested his head on her. "The truth is, I did trust him. Not at first of course. It took me years to start liking him. But when I did, I had finally learned to trust him. He seemed to mean well, to be a good friend. But it was all a lie. I said those things to hurt him, but in the end, it doesn't compare to what he's done."

"No, it doesn't." And they sat there for what seemed like ages, until Edward stood with a sigh.

"I can't stay here all night I'm afraid. Work to do and all that." Lily nodded sadly. "Don't worry Lily, I'll be alright. We all will. It'll just take some time." He smiled at her one more time before he turned and made his way to patrol, turning the page and closing the book on the part of his life that was Peter Pettigrew.

The school, it seemed, was not as willing to let it lie. The Weasleys were hearing it from all sides. Of course, the twins were safe, no one in their right minds would antagonize them. But Percy and Ron caught it the worst, Ron more so than Percy because of Percy's prefect status. Harry sat at their table, watching as Ron picked at his food, Neville and Hermione on either side of him. "I can't believe people are still talking about this."

Cassie sighed but it was Draco who answered. "They had a deatheater living in their home for 10 years mate, even if they didn't know about it, it's still news worthy."

"We've been over this several times Harry." Cassie smacked Harry lightly on the head which earned her a half-hearted glare.

"I know, but I feel horrible for the guy."

"I know you do Harry, but what can we do?" Harry thought on that as Ron got up to leave, the eyes of his friends following him sadly as he left. But Harry also noted the group of Hufflepuffs that followed him and had an idea. "I've got it!"

Ron Weasley was normally an up bright child. But at that moment, he was feeling most despondent as he wondered the halls. He couldn't believe that a deatheater had been hiding under their roof all this time! What did that say about his family?

Ron was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that he had followers until—

"Hey Weasley! Where's your rat?" Ron just ground his teeth but said nothing. "I bet your parents are closet deatheaters who bring out their masks and cry over them every Halloween!" The taunts kept coming, trying to goad a reaction of the boy, and it was beginning to work. Ron's face got red, red enough to match his hair. His fists started to shake and he whipped around to retaliate.

"Oh so it's 5 on 1 now? How brave of you."

"Now Harry, you know that bravery is a Gryffindor trait. Cowardice is more the Hufflepuff way."

"I thought loyalty was?" Draco asked.

"Hmm, perhaps you're right. Let's see, if Gryffindors are brave, Slytherins are cunning, Ravenclaws are intelligent, and Hufflepuffs are loyal, then what does that make them?" Cassie pointed at the now red faced and glaring group of Hufflepuffs.

"They certainly can't be brave." Draco pointed out.

"No I suppose you're both right. That would mean that they don't go in any house then. Which would make them nobody's." By this point, the three Slytherins were almost nose to nose with the Hufflepuffs when Harry whipped out his own wand and aimed it right between the eyes of the apparent leader. "Now let me explain this to you, really slowly, so that even you will understand. My father is Head of the Auror department, my Godfather who also happens to be her father," He pointed at Cassie with his free hand. "is also an Auror and is Lord of the Black family. His father," now pointing at Draco. "was an actual deatheater. And if I'm not mistaken, his brother," nodding towards Ron. "is a curse breaker. He has another brother who is a dragon tamer. And let's not forget he's the brother of Fred and George Weasley so I'm sure he knows a thing or two about cursing idiotic Hufflepuffs. So, if you value your sanity, and indeed, your lives, you'll leave well enough alone and you'll also discourage anyone else from making the same lame jokes or creating new ones. Is that clear? Otherwise, I'll personally show you some of the interesting curse I know." An almost evil glint was in his eyes by the time he was finished, daring them to do anything but comply.

But he needn't worry about that because at this point, the group of Hufflepuffs were pale faced and too frightened to do anything but nod and hurry away like roaches, leaving a very relieved looking Ron behind. "Gee, uh, thanks. You didn't have to do that."

Harry just grinned. "Course I did mate. That's what friends do right?"

Ron at this point, was dumb struck. But soon enough a broad grin stretched out on his face. "Yea, I guess they do."

Edward watched the entire exchange with a smile on his face. Snape just scowled. "He should have just cursed them and had been done with it."

"Oh, no my friend, he handled that just right."

"How so?"

"He threw them off with the insults by implying that they were not true Hufflepuffs, then he just insulted them for going in 5 on 1. Then he threatened them in a way that will keep Mr. Weasley out of theirs, and probably anyone else's crosshairs for some time. I thought it was quite marvelous."

"You would."

"Yes, I suppose that's true. But you have to admit, getting them to bugger off without any curses being thrown was very clever."

"Perhaps, we shall see how long it lasts."

Edward sighed. "You just hate to admit when you're clearly wrong don't you?"

"I so rarely am, I must be out of practice."

Edward snorted derisively. "How humble you are."

"Now that you could never accuse me of."

"That's God's own truth."

Later that night, a cloaked figure made its way into the castle, climbing the stairs slowly so as not to alert anyone of its presence. It made its way to the third floor and crept down the corridor, looking for any signs of a door that might be locked. It got to the end of the corridor where a single door stood. The figure tried it, opening the door to find the room beyond empty. "You know that's where they had planned on putting it." The figure jumped, turning around to find a man not 15 feet away. Edward just looked at the figure with obvious contempt. "There was even a trap door fashioned and extra rooms planned. I think Albus had planned on using Hagrid's Cerberus to guard it. Of course, I quickly put a stop to those plans. Of course I've already told you that haven't I. Just like I also told you that I'd make you bodiless once more if I saw you here again."

Edward grimly drew his wand with a flick of his wrist. The figure in front of him bolted down a side corridor, with Edward close behind him. The cloaked person was breathing raggedly as it made its way back around to the stairs but Edward had yet to even start breathing outside of normal.

Up the stairs they went bypassing 3 floors until they got to the 7th and the figure realized it wasn't going to outrun Edward on the stairs. It ran down the corridor while Edward slowed his speed. There was only one way out of the corridor and he was certain that this person had no idea where they were headed. The figure had also slowed considerably, though from near exhaustion more than anything. It got to what was known as the Fat Lady's Hall where a young first year was standing outside of his dormitories trying to remember the password. _Neville!_

The figure had also seen the boy and slowed to a stop a few feet away. Neville turned, having heard the noise, and immediately stepped back in surprise. "Neville Longbottom." The figure which at this point Edward had deduced was male, spoke. "My master didn't think you'd be here. My how the years have flown." The man reached forward as if to grab Neville.

"Don't you dare touch him." Edward's voice was deathly calm. His wand was leveled at his enemy. "Do so and it will be at the cost of your own life."

"Oh? Is that so? But we have so much history together!" The voice was different, barely above a whisper and was nearly a hiss. "Let me see him." The man reached up and pulled the hood down to reveal a man with the face of Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. "Do you like my new servant Edward? I found him in Albania. He was a lost soul looking for purpose and I gave it to him. He has been most faithful to me."

"I wonder then, if you have made him aware of what will happen when you exit his body?"

"Master, what is he talking about?"

"Silence fool!" Voldemort sneered at his servant's question before returning to Edward. "So intelligent yet so stubborn. Just like your mother."

"She was smart enough to realize her mistake and she was smart enough to stay away from you. But she was too stubborn to run when the time came."

"And are you that stubborn my son?"

Edward smiled grimly. "I don't need to be stubborn. I'm smart enough to know that you are barely even a shade of your former self, and I am far more powerful than I was 10 years ago, father." With that, Edward slashed his wand diagonally, opening up the now surprised host of Voldemort from shoulder to hip. He fell, his innards spilling out all over the floor. Voldemort screamed with rage as he took flight, right at Neville. "Neville, down!" But Neville was frozen in fright as the spirit passed right through him and out a window into the night. Neville was sent backward a few feet, landing on his back. Edward raced to check on Neville, sending a message to Albus as he went. When he got there, Neville had already succumbed to blackness as unconsciousness took over.

Albus arrived with Severus not long after and they cleaned up the mess and got Neville to the hospital wing. Later on, Albus met with three of his four heads of house. Flitwick was the only one missing. There, Edward explained to them what had happened and when he was done, there was not a smiling face in the room. Albus cleared his throat. "Why didn't you allow Neville to be touched? You know what would have happened."

"As if I'd allow Neville to get blood on his hands. Even if he was Voldemort's servant, the boy would have felt guilty and it'd have eaten away at him for years. For merlin's sakes Albus, he's only 11!"

Albus smiled at that, eyes twinkling in the way that irritated Edward to no end, as if he knew something Edward didn't. "My thought's exactly my boy, my thoughts exactly."

Minerva just rolled her eyes, not even bothering to respond. Severus just sat there in a huff.

After the whole exchange the three teachers were heading down the corridor from the headmaster's office in silence, when Minerva finally spoke. "Of course, this proves that You-know-Who isn't really dead, not sure why Albus had to explain that."

"He likes to make sure we're all on the same page. I think though, in some way, Albus can't help but treat us like students because he has taught all three of us at some point."

"Well he can keep it to himself. I don't appreciate being talked to as if I don't know what's going on. And what was that about why you didn't let You-Know-Who's servant die at Neville's touch? As if you'd ever allow that to happen!"

"He likes to play games with people, I don't think he ever means it in a condescending way. But it can be annoying at times."

Severus chose this moment to speak. "I hate to interrupt but we do have a major problem here, how is the Dark Lord still alive?"

Edward frowned in thought. "The answer to that is very dark and it's on the tip of my tongue, as if the answer is so obvious but it's so evil my mind won't bring it up. I'll have a look at Grimmauld place as well as in Salazar's own books to see if the answer is there."

"Do you need help?"

"I'm afraid not Severus. You and Sirius in the same house is never good and the Slytherin texts are all charmed so that only a Parselmouth can read them. No, I'm afraid that I'm on my own here." The potions master nodded grimly.

"Well gentlemen, I shall leave you here. I have reports to grade and I'm sure you two have things to do. Let me know what you find Edward." Minerva nodded at the two men and made her way back to her office.

Severus snorted. "She never changes."

Edward chuckled at that. "No indeed my friend. She certainly doesn't." And with that, the two separated to do what they needed to do.

 **And cut! Whew that was fun. Sorry I'm a little later than normal but I posted early last month so I figured it'd be ok if I was a day late. We have about one chapter to go before second year starts and I have a little poll I'm putting up. Until recently, I was sure that Emma was going to Slytherin but now…I'm not so sure. Is it really that realistic to have them both go to Slytherin? I'm not so sure now. So, I'll have a vote that'll be open until I post the next chapter! So please, contribute to the cause and vote!**

 **Now, on to other business. You may have noticed that I've made Neville and Ron a bit different in this story than in its original incarnation. To answer that, I'll say this. I just didn't feel right. It didn't seem realistic for Ron and Harry to dislike each other. Not to say that Ron won't be a little wary with Draco, because him being friendly with a Malfoy might be pushing the boundaries of reality, but otherwise he and Harry will be friends. I might put a little friction there for year 2 because that friction will be normal. Which leads us to Ginny. Yes, she will be in Slytherin. That was never in doubt for me because I'm a huge Hinny shipper. That and I could see Ginny in Slytherin considering how she is in canon. To be honest, I could see the twins in Slytherin too but I decided to leave that alone in this story.**

 **So, in closing, please review! I enjoy reading and responding to them so don't deprive me of that joy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S.: I saw Fantastic Beasts recently and it was amazing. If you really haven't seen it yet, you really should!**


	5. Chapter 5

The end of the year exams was as busy as always. Students were trying to cram as much information into their heads as possible and teachers were keeping an ever-watchful eye out for cheats, particularly cheats produced by the Weasley twins. Most people wrote the twins off as simple trouble makers, but teachers like Riddle and McGonagall always kept their eyes open. "I've been telling Filius for years that the twins are far more devious than they seem. They always lurk in the background academically but they are extremely intelligent when the situation suits them to show it."

"It's a tactic that keeps teachers from giving them a second glance. But don't be surprised when they do well on their exams."

"Indeed, though I doubt they'd care as much if you didn't insist on pushing them."

"You and I both know they can do much better than they do. They have potential to be great in whatever they choose to do and I refuse to let them squander it."

Minerva let out a small smile. "You've been very good for them. Molly should be grateful."

"She is, she sends me treacle tart at the end of every school year. It's usually after the exam results come in."

"How convenient of her."

"My thoughts exactly. I won't complain though; her cooking is amazing. Lily is the only one that rivals her but Molly has an edge I just can't put my finger on."

"Well, Lily is a busy person. Isn't she always working on spells she's trying to create or potions she's trying to brew?"

"That's true, she's always working on something. I suppose she has less time to devote to it than Molly does. She's a very attentive mother though."

"Oh, yes that's most certainly the case. It's why Harry and Emma have grown up as well as they have. I shudder to think what would have happened to them if James and Lily had ever died."

"Sirius or I would have taken them in."

"Not necessarily. Lily's horrid sister and her equally horrid husband might have gotten them."

"Petunia isn't as bad as she used to be. She's still horrid mind you, but she's more amiable than she was years ago. Sometimes she even replies to Lily's letters every so often."

Minerva shook her head. "I'm not sure why she even tries."

"Because they're sisters Minerva. And Lily has a huge heart that she wants to share with the people she cares about and somehow, Petunia falls under that category."

Minerva simply nodded her head at that, in deep thought for a moment. "So, have you heard that Filius is retiring after next year?"

"Yes, Albus told me and I've spoken with Filius about it. He's getting to hand pick his successor."

"Oh? Now that is interesting."

"Indeed. Guess who's number one on his list?"

"I'd hazard a guess but I might be wrong."

"Doubtful there. It's Lily herself."

Minerva's brows went up at that. "Exactly how does he plan on convincing her to do that?"

"Oh, it won't be too hard. She'll be closer to her babies, that'll be motivation enough."

"What about James?"

"Oh, Albus has already made arrangements for James to be able to get here at night."

"Won't people think that she'll play favorites?"

"Not once she starts teaching. The two years before Harry started Hogwarts, she started teaching him the basics of it. She's a very strict tutor but Harry learned quickly. Emma learned just as fast when she started learning it."

"That explains why he had little trouble this year with his lessons."

"Well, that and he reads ahead and practices in the common room."

"How do you know that?"

"The Bloody Baron tells me about it. Apparently, the Baron likes to watch Harry, Cassie, and Draco work. He's grown rather fond of them."

"Like he did with you."

Edward smiled. "He says that it's good we're bringing honor back to Slytherin."

Minerva snorted. "You've certainly been trying long enough."

"Be nice now."

"I'm too old for that nonsense." Edward just rolled his eyes and smiled as they continued their trek down the hallway. _Some things never change._

The end of the year feast was a huge event. For some, it marked the end of their seven-year journey. For some, it was just getting started. Harry was stuffing his face, albeit not as rudely as Ron constantly did. Every now and then, Harry would scowl as he felt an elbow dig into his ribs. Cassie was determined to remain dignified and she was going to do her best to make sure Harry di the same.

Draco on the other hand, was barely eating at all. He was pushing his food around on his plate despondently. "What's wrong Draco?"

Draco shook himself out of his despair and looked at his friends, who were looking at him with concern evident on their faces. "I'm fine guys, really I am. I'm just going to miss you two is all."

Harry nodded while Cassie just narrowed her eyes at the blond boy. "Are you sure that's all?" Draco nodded. "It can't be because you just don't want to go home for the summer, is it?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it and looking at his food. Finally, he spoke. "I'm good guys, ok. I promise I'm fine." Reluctantly, Cassie nodded and let it go, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere that night.

Later, after everyone else had gone off to bed, Draco got up snatching Harry's cloak and wandering out of the dormitories. He was so deep in thought, that he didn't notice Riddle looking in his direction down the hall. So, when Edward called his name, he was more than a little surprised. "May I ask what you're doing out of bed Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco jumped so high, the cloak slid off of him. "I'm going to have to remind Mr. Potter to hide that thing in a more secure location. Come with me Draco." As Edward led the boy to his office, Draco shivered. Though it was partly from being cold, it was also from fear. It was the fear of what his punishment would be and it was the fear of what his father would do to him when he found out about it.

Moments later, the professor came to his office door, opened it, then gestured for the frightened boy to enter. "It's not much." Edward started as he closed the door and made his way to his desk. "But it's good enough for our little discussion I suppose." With a wave of his hand, Edward summoned two butterbeers and tossed one to Draco. "I say we drink to another year. Well, another year for me, first year for you Mr. Malfoy. The first of seven to be exact."

Draco gulped. "So, your…not going to expel me?"

Edward blinked in surprise before he burst out laughing. He laughed for several long moments before he regained his control. "E-expel you? Why on earth would I do such a preposterous thing? I've certainly done far worse than that in my day when I was your age! No, Mr. Malfoy, I figured we could just act like I was giving you a stern talking to and then I'll walk you back to the dormitories. Besides that, it's only the first offense. Well, the first that I've seen in person anyway." There was a smirk on his face that told Draco that the professor knew far more than he was letting on. "But we'll not talk about that. What I want to talk about, is why you've been so despondent these last few days."

Draco suddenly found the floor to be very interesting. His name brought him back to the real world where Riddle had a kind smile on his face. "I won't force you to talk if you don't want to. Sirius was always like that. If he didn't want to talk then he wouldn't."

Draco blinked. "H-how…"

"How can I tell? Your cousin, my best friend, Sirius was raised in a home much like your own. A wealthy, pureblood heir, he was expected to be someone he wasn't, and when he didn't meet those expectations, he was punished harshly. Severus Snape was in a similar situation, although his father was muggle, he was punished for being a wizard. His pureblood mother standing idly by while her son was beaten every night." A pained look crossed Edward's features. "Please don't tell anyone of what I'm telling you. Neither of them want it talked about."

"I won't tell a soul Professor."

Edward looked relieved to hear that. "Good. Thank you." He took a drink of his butterbeer. "I don't drink these very often any more so I kind of forget how good they are." He set his drink down and eyed Draco for a moment. "You know aside from the hair, you look more like your mother. You have her facial structure, even her eyes."

Draco looked up from his drink in surprise. No one had ever made that connection before. Then his face contorted into anger. "Fat load of good it does me! I still get treated like I'm going to be a deatheater or something. Father acts like I'm supposed to carry his crappy pureblood legacy while mother stands in the back nodding along with it! It's a load of rubbish!" His voice had risen to a shout so Edward discreetly waved his wand underneath the table, keeping the sound in the room. "I hate it! I hate all of it!" He was breathing heavily as the anger on his face became misery. "And now I have to go back and endure more of his lectures, when he decides it's convenient to be around." Edward just nodded, letting the boy unleash his pent-up frustrations. "A lot of the time he acts like I'm not even there. Mother is alright most of the time until he comes around. Then it's like she becomes someone else entirely!" Finally, Draco's shoulders hunched as the last of the steam left him. "I just wish I was loved, for who I am not for who I'm expected to be."

Edward's heart broke for the boy in that moment. "I can't pretend to relate to you I'm afraid. After my mother was killed, I was raised by the Potters. They were very good to me, loving even. But I see a lot of myself in you. The need to prove that you are better than your parentage. I know that feeling on an extreme level."

Draco looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Edward smiled sadly. "That is a story for another day my young friend. But keep this in mind, no matter what they throw at you, just remember that you have friends who care about you. And if you need to, you can always talk to me. If you send an owl, it'll find me. And throughout the year if you want to talk about anything, I'm here. I care about all of my students but Slytherins especially."

"Why?"

"Because most of the purebloods in Slytherin go through exactly the same thing as you. Some not as bad, and some much worse. Harry and Cassie are the exceptions I'm afraid, not the rule. But it all tends to be the same. The high expectations from parents, the cruel letters from home when those expectations are not met, I've seen it all before. Now then, I think it's time I escorted you back." Draco nodded and off they went.

After Edward had seen Draco back into the dorm, telling the prefect not to worry about any punishments, he made his way back to his rooms. The prefect had known what was going on. Most of the older students knew the signs of an abused child, mostly because they themselves had been abused and Edward had always made it a point to encourage them to talk to him if they needed to. Most of the time, they declined any offer of help. Not that help was really possible, not in the society they lived in where a lot of the reason anyone got anywhere in life was their family name and the connections that came with it. Any accusations could be swept under the rug with the drop of a few coins into the hands of the right politician.

It was a society that made him seethe with anger at the injustice of it all. The fact that Remus' condition had nearly kept him out the auror corps but the fact that James and Sirius had famous names kept him in, though he faced heavy prejudice from all sides in the ministry. The aurors themselves had grown to respect him and many who were animagi even offered to stay with him on the full moon. Remus would politely decline, not wanting to inconvenience anyone. But the auror force treated him like family. It was outside of that he was bashed for what he was.

Edward thought to Hermione Granger, a bright girl with a brilliant mind that would probably be relegated to desk work, her great mind being wasted because she was muggleborn. The only way a muggleborn woman could get anywhere was to allow herself to be used by the perverted old pureblood men that would leer at them, telling them that if they do this one thing, then all they ever wanted would be in their grasp. It was a lie of course. Most of the time, they'd get one promotion, and if they complained then they'd get sneered at and told that they weren't good enough for any better. And if they kept complaining they were promptly fired. Some had made a stink of it, going to the Prophet. But that always ended the same way. The Prophet would steer them away before informing their boss who would inform the politician that was paying him. The politician would then hire a group of thugs to have their way with her and then kill her, leaving her broken body in a cold, dark alley somewhere.

Lily was a rare case, but only because of who she had married. They still turned their noses up at her. But because of James' last name, she had been able to make a way for herself. _Except she shouldn't have to use his name._ James hated how they looked at her, as if the only thing she was good for was for serving them their every need. One had even had the balls to make such a comment to her. He had gotten away with a bat bogey hex from Lily before James petrified him, forcing him to lie still as the bogeys assaulted his face. No one had been stupid enough to try that again.

Edward made a resolve. He would institute some sort of change. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that he couldn't let his goddaughter grow up in the world they lived in and leave it as it was. They all deserved so much better than that. He sighed to himself. He'd talk to Albus in the morning and see what they could come up with. For the moment, he went back to patrolling the halls.

The next morning, Edward made his way to the Headmaster's office. "Lemon Drop." The gargoyle leapt aside and Edward made his way up the stairs and into the office, where Albus sat gazing over reports. He looking up at Edward's entry.

"Ah, Edward, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Edward took the offered seat, sighing heavily. "I found Draco Malfoy in the hallways last night."

Albus raised his brow. "So, you finally got him to speak." Edward nodded. "I told you my friend, he only needed someone who would listen."

"I know, but it got me thinking. We live in a world full of corrupt politicians who have slowly been trying to enforce upon us the pureblood doctrine. Muggleborns rarely get anywhere unless they're lucky enough to marry into the right family or have those friends. Most of them fall by the wayside. Mrs. Granger for instance, is one the brightest students in this school right now, but it won't get her anywhere when she leaves here."

Albus nodded. "You want to work on fixing that I suppose?"

"Yes. I could reveal my true lineage, take up my wizengamot chair, and work on real change."

"And how, pray tell, would you accomplish this? When the name Slytherin is mud with the rest of the world thanks to Tom?"

Edward paused with a frown. "I hadn't thought of that."

Albus smiled. "I thought not. However, there is an alternate route you can take."

Edward blinked a few times before I smile made its way onto his face. "I do happen to know two Lords who would be willing to help me."

"Indeed. And I'm almost certain that Madam Bones would be more than willing to help you in this endeavor." Edward nodded again, building his list of names.

"Yes, I'll get into contact with them and see what we can get done." Albus smiled and nodded, with the ever-present twinkle in his eye.

A couple of hours later, the Hogwarts Express was pulling out of the Hogsmeade station and making its way back to London. Draco, Harry and Cassie were sitting in their cabin, talking about the year. "The year sure flew by though didn't it?" Harry asked. "At this rate, we'll be graduating before you know it!"

Cassie snorted and rolled her eyes. "Idiot."

Harry scowled while Draco just laughed. Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco but otherwise, said nothing.

A few hours later, the train rolled into King's Cross, and the students all grabbed their things and flocked to their parents and families, relieved at having made it through their year. Harry and Cassie said a sad goodbye to Draco as he was led away by his scowling mother. Sirius scowled at Narcissa before grinning and engulfing his daughter in a hug before yanking Harry into one as well. "You made it through your first year! How was it overall? How did you do in class? Snivellus didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

"Sirius Black! Give them room to breathe! And no name calling!" Lily narrowed her eyes at Sirius, who backed away slowly, hands raised, and with his trademark grin. Lily rolled her eyes before she hugged Harry tightly. "I'm glad you both had a good year."

"What about their space Lils?"

"Shut it Sirius."

They made their way to Grimmauld Place where Walburga Black, Sirius' mother, waited to greet them with Kreacher the house elf. "Well it's about time you all made it! Kreacher and I have been waiting for hours haven't we Kreacher?"

"Yes, we have mistress, a very long time indeed."

Sirius just rolled his eyes while Cassie smiled. "Aww Kreacher, did you miss me?" She gave Kreacher a small hug while the elf sputtered in response.

"Y-yes m-mistress! Kreacher has missed you!" Sirius made a gagging motion but was silenced by a glare from Lily. James wisely stayed out of the whole thing entirely and Harry smartly followed his father's example.

That night, the adults all sat in the sitting room talking when the fireplace lit up and an ashy Edward Riddle stepped out. Scowling at the ashes, he cleared them away with a wave of his hand. James got up and greeted his brother. "Nightfur."

"Prongs." They embraced before they separated and Edward greeted the rest of the Marauders. "Padfoot." "Mooney." "Lily." Lily had never officially joined the Marauders. Mostly because of the Marauders 3rd law, that women could never officially join and the four friends had never gotten around to getting rid of it.

Edward then greeted Lady Black with a kiss on each cheek as was customary, before taking his seat on James' left in the last remaining arm chair. Once he was seated, James sat up in his chair, straightening his back, and taking on an official sort of tone. "I hereby call to order Marauder meeting number 678." The number was a made-up number. They never kept count of the meetings and it was always to funny coming up with crazy numbers. "Is there a second?" as customary, Padfoot spoke up. "Seconded." Prongs nodded in his direction before continuing. "Lady Walburga Black, do you agree to act as witness to these events? He continued at her amused nod. "Very well then. First order of business, revoking the Marauders 3rd Law."

"With respect Prongs, we've been talking about doing this for some time, why now?" Mooney inquired.

"Because Lily will eventually strangle me if we don't."

"That's not true at all dear, I just think it's childish to keep it around." Lily stated, fighting to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"Well in any case, now is as good a time as any. All in favor of revoking the 3rd law?" All four members spoke up in agreement. "Then it is passed. All in favor of the new law that states that wives can be added?" Again, all four agreed. "Then it's done. Lily dear, step forward." With a roll of her eyes, Lily stood up and stood in the center before them. "As the elected leader of this ragtag group of misfits, I ask do you solemnly swear that you will always be up to no good as in accordance with Marauder law and to never defect to the side of the snake face loving miscreants?"

"I solemnly swear."

Prongs grinned. "Then I gladly welcome you to our ranks and give you leave to come up with your official Marauder name." Lily mock curtseyed before taking her seat. "Now then, to other business. Nightfur, if you will."

With a nod, Nightfur took center stage to present his idea. "I propose we take a more active role in the Wizarding role. And by that, I mean going for real change." He mapped out his idea for uprooting the corruption in the Ministry. By the end of it, the other members of the group were looking thoughtful.

Prongs decided to take the lead. "As wonderful as that sounds, who are we going to pick to help us in this? We can't just go up to some random Wizengamot member and ask him to support us."

"Not him Prongs, her. More specifically, Madam Amelia Bones."

At this, Prongs' eyes widened before a grin overtook his face. "Nightfur you are a genious!"

"You're just now realizing that?"

"Hush I'm thinking."

"It really is brilliant mate. She's about as straight forward as you can get. No one will dare try to challenge her." Padfoot said thoughtfully.

"My thoughts exactly."

Prongs looked up. "A motion is on the floor for ratification. Lily, as a new member, you may vote as well. No second is needed. All in favor?" Ayes echoed across the room. "All opposed?" It was rhetorical since no one was there to say nay, but it was a part of the act. "The motion has passed. We'll meet next week to discuss the finer details."

"Ah I'm afraid I won't be here Prongs, I have a trip to Africa. A chief has sent word asking for my help." Nightfur stated.

Prongs waved it off, we'll communicate by mirror if possible, if not then we'll let you know what we decide when you get back."

Nightfur nodded. "That sounds like a good plan to me Prongs."

Prongs nodded. "Very well, Operation Subvert has been initiated. Any more business? No? Good then, all in favor of closing the meeting?" Again, ayes were heard all over. "Opposed?" No sound was made. "Very good, I now call this business meeting closed and officially in the books."

At that point, Kreacher came in with a tray of glasses and firewhiskey. "Ah Kreacher, just in time!' Padfoot exclaimed. "Pour us a round." Once everyone had a glass, they stood up. "A drink to another meeting done." They clanked glasses before downing the liquid, smoke coming out of their ears. Even Lily giggled at the sensation.

"Now that the meetings end has been signified with a shot of fire whiskey, it really is official!"

"James dear, how exactly did you officialize these meetings while we were in school with no fire whiskey on hand?"

"That's easy Lily love, I always smuggled a bottle of my dad's Ogden's Firewhiskey at the bottom of my trunk wrapped in my cloak. Of course, we didn't start that tradition until fifth year. Before that, it was pumpkin juice from the kitchens." Lily just rolled her eyes at the antics of her husband. "I should have known."

The next morning, the Potters departed for Potter Manor, Emma and Harry waving goodbye to Cassie before James and Lily apparated them away.

Edward was at his home, finishing his packing for the trip when an owl came. Frowning, Edward unrolled the parchment and read the letter. Rolling his eyes, Edward tossed the parchment onto his desk. "Yes Albus, I'll be back in time to show the new professor around. I just won't be able to take my time in Africa like I'd normally do." Edward sighed. "Unfortunately, the hunt is the fun part of these trips but, I made a commitment to Albus so I'll be there." With a shake of his head, Edward shrunk his belongings and put them in his pocket before collecting his familiar and taking the International portkey to the Ministry in Nigeria, where he'd then make his way to the magical village hidden 20 miles south of Abuja. Edward met with the chief, shaking hands before he was guided into a small, clay, hut to talk about what was going on.

"Of course, Chief Kyuka, I'll be happy to help."

 **Whew! That took a little longer than I wanted it to! But when your washer and dryer tears up, you have to get that fixed/replaced and that was not fun. Anyway, I probably would've had this up yesterday had I not spent most of the time pondering a good Marauder name for Edward without giving too much away of what his animagus form is. All Nightfur tells you is that he has fur that is black which makes sense because his hair is black in color. And no, I'm not planning on elaborating on the adventure in Africa because that whole scene was last minute. I just hope I did ok with it. Nigeria just kind of popped into my head so I just went with it. Maybe I'll do a separate oneshot if enough people ask for it but I'm not planning on it. Anyway,The whole Marauder meeting was also kind of a last minute thing that mostly wrote itself and I hope you all enjoy it. Also, NOBODY has voted on the poll I put up in my profile about what house Emma should go to. So please do that. I'm sure you may notice that I changed the summary for the story, let me know if you like it! That's all for now, please read and review and feel free to pm with any questions or just leave them in a review. Have a great rest of the week!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!**

Emma Potter was having a nice dream. She had been flying through the air on a broom when suddenly, her world went blurry then dark as she was slowly shaken awake, accompanied by a soft voice. "Come on sweetie, time to get up. We're going to Diagon Alley today for yours and Harry's school supplies." Emma grinned, all signs of sleepiness gone. After assuring her mother that she would be down shortly, she hurried into the bathroom to shower. She quickly got dresses and made her way down stairs. As she approached the table, Lily smiled at her, waving her wand to dry Emma's hair. "Thanks mum!" Lily winked at her before turning back to her breakfast. Emma settled into her own breakfast with a giggle, excited about the day to come. Minutes later, Harry made his way downstairs and sat next to James to tuck into his breakfast. James cast a glance at his son, seeing through the indifferent façade that he was putting up and seeing the excitement that was pouring off of Harry in waves. Of course, Lily and Emma could see it as well, Harry was just as excited as Emma was. After they had finished and the elves were busy cleaning, the Potters set off through the floo to Diagon Ally.

Severus Snape was wondering the castle, enjoying the silence of a school without so many people in it. It had been his solace at night when he had been a schoolboy, especially after his falling out with Lily. So lost in his memories, Severus almost missed that Edward's office door was open, a light shining out. With a frown, he made his way inside to find a young woman looking around curiously. Severus cleared his throat slightly, startling the girl who whirled around in shock. "May I ask who you are." Severus looked at the girl coldly.

"I was just waiting for Professor Riddle to get here." The girl stated nervously.

Snape sneered. "I don't care who you're waiting for, I asked who you were."

The girl blinked in surprise. "Oh, I'm the new Muggle Studies professor, Laura Baxter." She held out her hand but Severus continued to glare until she awkwardly put her hand down, shuffling her feet under his critical gaze. This is how Edward found them moments later, Laura looking as if she would like to be anywhere but there.

"Oh dear, Severus stop scaring the poor girl before she faints." The girl scowled briefly before casting her gaze towards him.

"I wasn't going to faint, but it's rather weird to be stared at as if you're trying to undress my soul." Severus face adopted a look of shock mixed with revulsion before it became its usual mask and sneer.

"Have fun babysitting Riddle." Then he exited, leaving Laura irritated and Edward shaking his head.

"You'll have to forgive Severus, he's not a people person I'm afraid."

"I think that may be an understatement Professor."

That got a chuckle out of Edward. "We're colleagues now, call me Edward." He smiled, getting his first look at the new professor and finally matching the face to the name. "Ah, yes I remember you now. Laura Baxter, Ravenclaw and top of your year. You were one of the few students that could get the theory and the application of defense down."

Laura waved off the compliment. "It wasn't really all that hard as long as you paid attention, and you were very easy to pay attention to." She finished with a smile. She had dark hair with what Edward could only describe as a stunning pair of violet eyes. She was rather petite but it was a fierce looking petite. Severus had caught her off guard, but Edward had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to do so again.

"I presume you remember most of the castle but there are some passages you might want to be aware of for when you go on your patrols."

She laughed. "Oh, I know those already."

Edward raised a brow. "Why don't you show me so I can see for myself."

Laura agreed, only rolling her eyes once in the process.

 _Diagon Alley…_

Emma skipped ahead of her family towards Olivander's calling over her shoulder. "Come on! I want to get my wand now!"

"Coming dear!" Lily called. "James, why don't you and Harry go into the pet shop and pick up some more treats for Hedwig while we do this."

James nodded and led his son away.

As Lily followed her daughter into the shop, she noticed that it had not changed at all. James had taken Harry inside the year prior so she hadn't seen it since she was a little girl, getting her own wand for the first time. "Ah Lily Potter, it's been a long time." The old man appeared from behind the counter.

"Not too long I hope." Lily smiled.

Ollivander chuckled before turning his attention to Emma. "Little Emma Potter I see. Alright then, step up here and let me measure you."

Emma looked nervous, and a little freaked out by Ollivander but Lily assured her there was nothing to worry about. Finally, the old man wandered to his shelves and started pulling boxes, humming all the while. "Your brother's wand is quite unique, Yew with a thestral hair bathed in the venom of a basilisk. Not completely unlike Professor Riddle's own wand. Aspen wood with a dragon heartstring, also bathed in basilisk venom. The oddest thing though, is where the heartstring came from. I procured it from the body of a Hungarian Horntail. Fierce animals they are and this one had lived a very long time."

Lily was about to tell the old man to get on with it when he pulled an old box from the back of the shelf. "Ah yes, it's been a long time since this wand was made. Been waiting for the right one I have, Cedar wood with the hair of a unicorn, treated with phoenix flame as a core."

Emma couldn't help the question. "How do you treat it with Phoenix flame without burning it?"

Ollivander just winked. "Magic my dear, magic. Now, give it a wave."

Emma took the wand, immediately noticing the warm feeling that traveled up her arm. She waved it, causing gold sparks to leap into the air before forming a golden bird that screamed once and flew away. "Oh my yes, a most perfect match." The wand maker said with a smile, clapping his hands together excitedly.

With a grin, Emma waited for her mum to pay for the wand before skipping out onto the street where her father and brother were waiting. "Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new wand!"

James grinned before obliging his daughter. "It's beautiful, love." Harry had a smile on his face while watching the exchange.

"Alright, now where to?" Lily asked.

"On to get schoolbooks love." James answered.

Lily scrunched her nose up, which James found extremely cute. "Are you sure? There's that Lockhart book signing going on and it's sure to be busy."

James shrugged. "I figure as long as we can get in and get out we'll be fine." Lily sighed and nodded as the family made its way to the other end of Diagon Ally.

 _Hogwarts…_

A smug Edward led a stunned Laura Baxter back towards his office. "I can't believe that the entrance to the kitchens is behind a pear."

Edward laughed. "Most of the secret passages are easy enough to find if you know what to look for."

Laura shook her head. "So, where to next?"

"Oh, that's it. Your office is not far from mine, it's easy to find."

"Oh, well ok then. What are we going to do now?"

Edward shrugged. "Well, I need to go to Diagon Ally for a couple of books. Perhaps you could come if you like. That way you can look around and see if there's a textbook that you like. You'll have to deal with last year's book but by next year, you can have your own book."

Laura looked thoughtful. "Well ok, that sounds like a good plan. Do you think we could get lunch after?"

"Sure, if you like."

"I would." Laura said with a smile.

 _Flourish and Blotts…_

Harry sighed as he slipped past the crowd to an uninhabited part of the store, Emma close behind. "Bloody hell there are a load of people here." Harry whipped around to see Cassie come up beside them.

Emma grinned up at here. "Too right there are."

Harry rolled his eyes before a grin made its way onto his face. "I bet Sirius is having fun, he hates crowds." Emma and Cassie both laughed as a short, red headed girl walk past them, causing Cassie to look her way. "Hey Ginny!"

The girl, identified as Ginny, turned around at hearing her name. "Bloody hell Cassie, I didn't know you were here."

Cassie nodded. "Just got here. Harry, Emma, this is Ginny Weasley. Ginny, this Harry and Emma Potter."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I know who they are Cassie." She then stuck her hand out. "It's nice to meet you both."

Emma shook her hand, a smile on her face. "Nice to meet you too Ginny."

All eyes went to Harry, who had a curious look on his face. "Ron's your brother, isn't he?"

Ginny shrugged. "That's debatable." Harry grinned in response.

"Weasley's alright I suppose. He's a little stiff though." Said a blond boy that made his way to stand with the group.

"Hey Draco, how's your summer been?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. "Alright I guess, Father has been insufferable though."

"That might be my Dad's fault." Ginny grinned.

"It is all your father's fault." Draco quipped back.

"Draco, where are you?" A silky-smooth voice called.

"Oh, bloody hell, I can't get five minutes."

Harry snickered as the group followed Draco back to his father. "Ah, there you are Draco. Are these your friends?" Lucius asked with a sneer as Draco answered the affirmative.

Ginny came up and took the cauldron offered to her by Fred, which had her books in it. It got Lucius' attention. "What's this?" Lucius snatched a used Transfiguration book from her cauldron. "You mean to tell me Arthur, that the Ministry isn't paying you overtime for all the raids you've been going on?"

By this time, Arthur was beginning to go red faced. "Don't listen to him Arthur." Lily advised.

This caused Lucius to sneer even more. "Ah yes Arthur, you do enjoy being around riff raff don't you. And I thought you couldn't get any lower."

Before Lily could respond, Arthur lunged forward, his fist catching the snotty pureblood in the jaw and the two men began to brawl, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Sirius and James tried to pull the two apart while Molly screamed for her husband to stop. It was only when Hagrid stepped in, having been drawn in from all the noise, and physically picked the two men up and held them apart that they stopped struggling. Hagrid walked everyone outside, the two men still in his grip. "Alright you two, stop all the fighting." He set them down and Lucius straightened his robes forcefully before tossing Ginny's book back into her cauldron. "Take your book back girl, it's the best your father can do for you."

"I hope you taught your son better manners than that Malfoy." Everyone turned to see an amused Edward Riddle standing there with his hands clasped in front of him.

Lucius sneered. "Riddle. And who is this?" Lucius nodded towards the woman behind him.

"I'm the new Muggle Studies professor, Laura Baxter." Said woman nodded with a smile.

Lucius snorted. "Taught by a mudblood no less."

Everyone around tensed, while the Grangers, who had met with the Weasleys earlier, looked confused. Edward's face became hard. "Really Lucy-boy, I thought you were above petty insults."

"Being petty does not change the facts, Riddle."

"Perhaps you should leave now, before you embarrass your son further." Edward warned, his teeth, grit.

Lucius' hand tensed on the handle of his cane, where he kept his wand, before he simply turned his nose up and made his way down the street. "Come Draco." He called and Draco, who looked ashamed, said goodbye to his friends and followed his father.

James looked on at the retreating man's back as Edward unclasped his hands and holstered his wand. "I was hoping he'd be stupid enough to draw his wand."

Sirius snorted and grinned at his friend. "I figured you had your wand out somewhere."

With a shrug, Edward rolled his shoulders. "Well now that was fun. Who's up for lunch?" Lily could only roll her eyes while she muttered 'boys' under her breath, which made Jean Granger giggle into her hand.

The group filled up the Leaky Cauldron. The children sat on one end of the large table that Tom had provided in the back room of the pub. The talked excitedly about the upcoming year while the women talked in hushed whispers about being a woman in the magical world in the middle of the table. The men sat on the other end of the table, talking about general things.

"So Eddie, who's the girl?" Sirius grinned at his friend who just looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"I'm fairly certain I've gone over this already. She's the new Muggle Studies professor."

"So why did you accompany her to Diagon Ally."

"Because Albus asked me to show her around Hogwarts so I figured I'd show her a couple of textbooks she might be interested in using after she's had a year of that terribly outdated textbook we use now."

James laughed. "But you didn't have to ask her to lunch, though did you?"

Edward leveled a glare at his friend. "I didn't want to be rude. Stop trying to pair me up with every female teacher in Hogwarts. You did it when Albus hired Aurora Sinistra for Astronomy. It gets old after a while."

James shrugged. "I'm happily married and I just want to share the happiness."

Richard Granger fought to hide the smile that was creeping onto his face while Arthur just let it show. "You know, you're rather outnumbered here."

Edward then turned his glare towards the Weasley patriarch. "Thank you for your support my friend." He answered dryly. Arthur just smiled wider.

With a chuckle at the antics of his friends, James took a drink of his butterbeer before changing the subject and sparing his friend from further scrutiny. "You ready to hear about our progress in our 'mission'." With a nod from Edward, James started. "Well, we've spoken with Amelia and of course, she's all for it. But she advises that it is going to take time to implement such things because of the deep-seated hatred and degradation of muggleborns."

Edward noticed the frown of Richard's face and chose to expound on James' statement. "Our world isn't very inclusive of muggleborns. Lily, for instance, had to marry a pureblood in order to get anywhere. And the only reason Mrs. Baxter has a job is because Albus is all for the advancement of muggleborns. Which is one of the reasons bigoted purebloods hate Albus so much. He despises the bigotry that muggles and muggleborns are shown by our society. We're trying to fix that. But it'll be a long process and we may not live to see the fruits of it. But change has to start somewhere."

The father of Hermione nodded. "I do fear for my daughter in this world. I've seen the looks we get. She's innocent but I fear the things she'd have to do to get anywhere in this world."

Sirius nodded solemnly. "It's not a nice world for them. Hopefully, by the time Hermione gets out of Hogwarts, we'll have anew minister that can really start implementing the changes necessary."

"Women in general face a lot of scrutiny in the wizarding world. You'll notice that the wizarding world is very patriarchic. The Wizengamot is mainly male heirs unless there are no males left in the family, only then are women allowed to take the seat. Madam Amelia Bones for instance, wasn't allowed a seat until after her brother and his wife were killed even though she was the older sibling." Arthur shook his head as he finished. "Our world is extremely backwards."

A little down the table, Lily and Molly shared an amused glance. "I didn't know Sirius could be so political." Molly chortled.

"He isn't normally. Neither is James for that matter." Lily shook her head. "But they're right."

Molly nodded. "I'm perfectly happy with my lot in life, but if I had decided that I wanted to be anything other than a housewife, I'd been ostracized even more than I am with a muggle loving husband." She shrugged. "But anyway, why haven't we met before?" Molly grinned.

With a chuckle, Lily stated. "Well I've met Arthur through the Ministry but James and I have been so busy with Harry and Emma plus I've been working on different spells and potions. I've heard of you from Sirius and Edward before, but I've never really had the time. Which is unfortunate because you seem like a wonderful woman and your children are absolutely amazing."

Molly glowed with the praise. "Well we've met now so there's no going back."

With a nod, Lily and Molly clinked glasses. Molly then looked thoughtful. "Now, you know they can't do it alone."

"Of course not. They're men after all. Don't get me wrong, they're very capable men, but this is too big for them to do it alone."

Molly agreed. "Well you know what they say, that behind every great man, is a strong woman."

Lily grinned at that. "I can drink to that."

On September 1st, the Weasleys and the Potters met with the Blacks on platform 9 3/4. The Weasleys were late of course but then again, not many could wrangle 5 children quite the way Molly could. They all said goodbye to their children, with Molly giving special attention to Ginny and Lily doing the same for Emma. Finally, they were able to get onto the train and separated to find their friends. Cassie and Harry found Draco in a back compartment waiting for them. "Hey Draco, nice to see you here."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Like I would ever lower myself into sitting in the same area as Crabbe and Goyle. Or, Merlin forbid, Parkinson." Draco shivered in disgust.

"She does like throwing herself at you doesn't she." Cassie observed with a bit of a smirk.

"It must be annoying, having the constant attention of the castle pitbull." Harry teased.

"And you know what she'll become by our fourth year. They'll be calling her the castle slut." Cassie stated nonchalantly.

Draco and Harry both had looks of disgust on their faces. "Bloody hell Cassie, I won't be able to eat now." Draco nodded in agreement with Harry's statement when the door opened and Ginny Weasley stormed in. "Blimey Gin, what's wrong?"

Ginny's had snapped up to Harry, a scowl appearing on her face. "I really don't like the girls in my year."

"Why not?" Asked Cassie curiously.

"Because they're all simpering twits. Well, most of them are anyway."

Cassie shook her head. "They won't be in Slytherin then. Other than Pansy, the girls in my year are very strong willed. Daphne Greengrass in particular is very intimidating. Even older students try to stay out of her way."

Ginny nodded. "Fred and George tell me that a lot of the girls in Gryffindor are pretty headstrong. Hermione Granger even keeps my idiot brother Ron in check."

Harry laughed. "He is a headstrong guy, isn't he?"

"That's putting it mildly." Ginny stated dryly.

A few hours later, the trolley lady stopped by, causing Harry and Draco's pockets to become a tad lighter as they bought a little of everything. This earned them eyerolls from Ginny and Cassie. An hour later, Emma stopped by with Luna Lovegood, a friend of Ginny's, and they all chatted amiably. They had to ignore some the odd quips from Luna. But otherwise, it was a very enjoyable conversation.

By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station, it was dark. They disembarked, with Luna, Ginny, and Emma separating to go to Hagrid to ride the boats. Harry, Cassie, and Draco made their way to the carriages, which seemed to be pulled by an invisible force. "They're thestrals." Harry explained as the carriage was pulled towards Hogwarts. "They're invisible to everyone but people that has seen death."

Draco frowned. "Isn't your wand core a thestral hair bathed in basilisk venom?"

Harry nodded. "It is. I'm not sure how I'm able to wield it. Uncle Eddie says he'll look into it."

Cassie nodded. "And he'll find out too. Once he gets the bit between his teeth on a subject, he doesn't stop. He did the same thing when Harry spoke parseltongue the first time." Draco whipped his head around to stare at his friend. "W-what? Y-you're a parselmouth? H-how? Only people related to Slytherin are supposed to be able to do that!"

Harry glared at Cassie who just grinned at him. "Thanks Cassie." He turned back to Draco who was gaping at him. "Uncle Eddie says that being a parselmouth doesn't necessarily come from bloodline. It's rare enough so it being a bloodline trait has become the most popular theory. But Uncle Eddie thinks that it might come from mum's side of the family. He says she may be very distantly related to someone from Slytherin's bloodline. He's not 100% sure though so no telling anyone ok?"

Draco nodded. "Course I won't tell anyone mate. I'll never tell your secrets. As long as you don't tell anyone mine."

Harry grinned. "You've got a deal there." Cassie nodded in agreement.

After the hat sang its song and Minerva stood up, the sorting began. As she went through the list she came to Emma's name. "Potter, Emma!" Emma made her way up to the stool and the hat was placed on her head. As she sat there, Emma got a thoughtful look on her face until finally, the brim opened up and the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!" Emma grinned as she raced to sit next to her new friend Luna who was beaming. Harry had a bit of a flabbergasted look on his face. "Huh. I never thought that would happen." Cassie rolled her eyes at her friend.

Finally, "Weasley, Ginevra!" Ginny scowled as she made her way to the stool. "I wonder why she hates her name so much. I like it." Harry wondered out loud. Cassie looked at her friend contemplatively before a small grin made its way onto her face.

Ginny's sorting took the longest of them all. It was as if the hat wasn't sure what to do with her. Finally, the hat shouted, "Slytherin!" The hall clapped respectively, including her shocked brothers except Percy, who just looked at Ginny as if he was seeing her for the first time. She made her way to the Slytherin table and Harry moved over so she had room to sit in between he and Cassie. Finally, Dumbledore stood up. "Before we begin our wonderful feast, I have some announcements. Firstly, I would like to advise that the banned items list has been increased to 765, for the full list and what it includes, please see the post outside of Mr. Filtch's office. Now, I'd like to introduce our new Muggle Studies professor, Laura Baxter." Laura stood shyly while everyone clapped, with more than a few drooling looks from the older male students. "Now then please tuck in!" And everyone in the hall gladly did so, lightly wondering why Professor Dumbledore decided to make the announcements first instead of last. When Minerva asked him this later, he simply stated he wanted to be different this year, which only caused Minerva to roll her eyes.

Later, after everyone had made their way to bed, Ginny sat on her bed, with the curtains closed, and pulled out the diary that she had found tucked into her books. She had simply shrugged at the time, figuring that her mum had slipped it in. She opened it up and wrote, _"Hello diary, my name is Ginny."_ As Ginny tapped her chin with her quill trying to think of what to write, she saw her writing disappeared, only to be replaced by something else. _"Hello Ginny, my name is Tom."_

 **I do apologize for the late update, but when you find out your wife is pregnant, other things take a backseat. Anyway, I did decide to follow the advice of the one voter of my poll (which will probably be the last poll I ever post), and put Emma into Ravenclaw just because I wanted Luna to have a friend in Ravenclaw. But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and yes, things now start picking up. I hope you like where this is starting to go and I hope you all stick around to the end! Please read and review! Have a great rest of your week!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Me no own HP (I do not own Harry Potter).**

Harry, Cassie, and Draco made their way down to the Slytherin table where Ginny was talking animatedly with a couple of the new first year Slytherin girls. When she caught sight of them, she waved before going back to her conversation. "It's good to see her getting along with her year mates." Harry commented.

"Agreed, I know she was worried about not making friends so it's good to see her being proven wrong there." Cassie noted.

"How do you know the Weasleys Cass?" Draco inquired.

"Dad and Mr. Weasley are friends so we visit them a lot. Oh, and if you ever call me Cass again I'll hex you into your seventh year." Had Harry been less intelligent, he'd have allowed the laugh that was bubbling up to escape. But he wasn't that stupid so he kept it inside. "That and Ginny and I have a Godfather in common."

Draco's brow furrowed. "I didn't know Professor Riddle was close to the Weasleys."

"Oh yes. He's close friends with Mr. Weasley. It certainly helps that Uncle Eddie figured out how to make muggle electronics work around magic, with a little help from Aunt Lily of course."

Draco nodded thoughtfully as the trio sat down and said professor handed them their schedules with a nod. "You three keep out of trouble this year." Edward told them with a smirk.

"Why Uncle, whoever said we get into trouble?" Harry said, feigning innocence.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Very well, just don't get caught then."

Cassie grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it." Edward just shook his head, nodded to Draco, and continued handing out schedules.

Harry looked at his and sighed. "Transfiguration on the first day. Plus, double Potions with the Gryfindors. Fantastic."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Oh stop whining." Harry just made a face at her. "Besides, you like Transfiguration."

"I do, but McGonagall is going to be hard on us and I don't look forward to that on the first day."

Cassie waved away his concerns with a scoff. "You'll be fine. Now, finish eating so we aren't late." But by the end of first period, Cassie was singing a very different tune. "Blimey what is she thinking, assigning this much homework on the first day?"

Harry tried to refrain from chuckling. "Now look who's whining? I actually didn't think it was all that bad. I turned my beetle into a button on the third try."

Draco laughed. "Yeah, but she still gave us a two-foot essay on the theory and wants it turned in by Friday."

Harry waved away Draco's concerns. "It'll be easy with the notes I took."

Cassie looked at Harry incredulously. "You took notes? Harry Potter, taking notes?"

"Yes, what is the world coming to?" Draco wondered.

"Oh, shut up you two. I knew Aunt Minnie would assign that essay so I made sure to take notes." Harry said with an air of superiority.

"And how exactly did you know that Potter?" Pansy asked with a sneer.

"Because, pug face, it's Professor McGonagall, of course she's going to assign an essay." Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

Zabini eyed Harry for a moment. "He's right. If you didn't expect her to assign an essay, then you weren't thinking." He patted his notebook. "I made sure to take extensive notes."

Harry nodded triumphant before looking at Draco and Cassie, who eyed him nervously. "Don't worry, I'll be nice and share my notes."

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Harry."

But Draco continued to eye him with suspicion. "What's the catch?"

Harry grinned, which caused Cassie to look nervous again. "Oh, nothing much Malfoy, and nothing immediate. Just a favor I'll cash in at some point in the near future."

"You don't know yet do you."

"Not a clue but I'm not going to let this opportunity go to waste."

"Shit." Having no choice, Cassie and Draco nervously agreed with Harry's terms.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. In Herbology, they were planting mandrakes which could kill with their cries as adults. As it was, the baby mandrakes' cries only made one of the Ravenclaws pass out which caused no end of amusement for Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Double Potions were as one would expect. Snape was as hard as ever, especially on the Gryffindors. They worked on the cure for boils, which Harry and Draco got right, earning them 15 points. Cassie didn't do as well but still earned them 5 points and she did much better than Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley whose potion, instead of curing boils, just exploded and began causing the two boys to grow painful boils which forced Hermione Granger to have to escort them to the hospital wing and cost Gryffindor 30 points.

Charms was the easiest class of the day. They learned how to do the Skurge charm, which, while mainly being used to clean up the ectoplasm left by ghosts, could also be used to frighten Peeves. It happened to be the second use that had the students the most excited. They were a little sad to learn that Flitwick was retiring at the end of the year but he promised that his successor would not disappoint.

Thursday rolled around and after sleeping through a boring History of Magic, getting through Herbology without fainting, and a double Charms still practicing the Skurge cahrm, it was time to attend their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year. As the group of second years made their way to their seats, they looked around for any clue as to what they would be doing that day.

On the desk was a cage which had a covering over it. Goyle, being the troll that he was, decided to have a look. But as he started to lift the covering, someone cleared their throat causing the students to all turn to see their defense professor and head of house in the entrance. "Rather curious today aren't we Mr. Goyle? Well, then I'll be happy to satisfy your curiosity in a moment. But first, why don't you have a seat." Goyle dumbly nodded his head and went to take his seat next to Crabbe.

Professor Riddle made his way into the room, the door shutting behind him on its own. As he made his way to his desk, he swept his eyes over each of them, counting them to make sure everyone was there. Satisfied that he had a full class, he turned in front of his desk and began the class. "Welcome, to your second year of defense against the dark arts. This year, we'll be learning a few more curses such as the advanced form of the _Vermillious_ char, the tongue-tying curse, and so on. We'll also be learning about more dark creatures, starting with what I have here." He gestured to his cage. "Now, I only brought one of these things because they are extremely annoying, and the last thing you want to do is to have an entire colony of these things in one place." He shuddered at the thought. "What I have here is what's known as the Cornish Pixie. Who can tell me a little about them?"

Harry's hand went up, getting a nod from his professor, he spoke. "The Cornish Pixie is a Pixie that is native to Cornwall, hence the name. It's mischievous and enjoys lifting people by their ears and leaving them on top of trees or buildings, and they can only communicate with other pixies."

"Precisely, take 10 points for Slytherin. Yes, they have very shrill voices that only other pixies can decipher. The largest incident involving them happened in the 1600's when they abducted a woman which caused her to request their extermination. She was, of course, swiftly denied. She died in 1692 still living in fear of them." He then turned and lifted the covering which showed a bright blue creature. It had no wings but was hovering, chittering madly in its shrill voice. "This may seem harmless, but it can be extremely dangerous when in groups. They are very strong considering their size, and can lift a grown human by themselves. But, a simple freezing charm will usually do the trick to stop them-yes Mrs. Parkinson?"

Pansy swallowed her nerves to ask her question. "I read somewhere that there is another spell, Peskipiski Pesternomi that'll stop them, is that true?"

Edward looked at her confused for a moment while Daphne Greengrass struggled to hold in a laugh. "Mrs. Parkinson, where exactly did you read that?"

"I-it's in a book about household pests."

"Who wrote it?" He had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, sir"

Edward snorted. "And you believed it? Mrs. Parkinson, I can tell you from great experience, that there is no such spell. The reason no one has ever found that out yet, is that most Pixie colonies are kept away from populated areas and in controlled environments. Mr. Lockhart is a writer of fiction and as such, you shouldn't believe everything he says." Pansy looked dispirited, but nodded all the same.

When the class ended Professor Riddle assigned them 8 inches of parchment on the Cornish Pixie to be turned in at the start of the next lesson.

As they left, Daphne couldn't hold it in anymore and began to laugh. Pansy scowled. "What are you laughing at?"

"I-I can't believe that you actually believed that was a real spell!"

Pansy's scowl darkened. "Laugh it up Greengrass."

"Oh, I will!" Daphne said, laughter in her eyes.

"Stop growling Parkinson, you brought it on yourself." Cassie sneered.

"Why you little ta-"

"What's going on here?" The students turned to see Professor McGonagall looking at them, eyebrow raised.

"Nothing professor." Harry said hurriedly.

The professor looked at them for a moment before nodding. "Very well, move along now." With a nod, the students moved on down the hall.

With a shake of her head, the Transfiguration professor made her way to the Defense classroom. Inside, Edward was sending the pixie off with a tap of his wand back to the reservation he had borrowed it from.

"Why don't you charm a closet to hold things like that?"

Edward shrugged. "I don't like the idea of taking them out of their natural habitat. Besides, I have contacts so I might as well use them for something."

Minerva nodded thoughtfully. "I assume you heard that little exchange out in the hallway?"

With a sigh, Edward nodded. "Yes unfortunately."

"Care to explain?"

After Edward was done telling her what happened, Minerva had a bewildered look on her face. "People actually believe that buffoon?"

"You'd be surprised. I've been telling Molly Weasley to stop buying his books for years."

Minerva snorted. "Hard to believe that she would believe that rubbish."

"Molly has always believed in the integrity of her fellow human. And if the book has a picture of a handsome gentleman with a good smile on the cover then all the better."

"Arthur lets her get away with that?"

"Arthur doesn't believe in the patriarchy the way most purebloods do. He doesn't love the fact that she buys those books because he thinks they're rubbish. But you and I both know that Molly wouldn't put up with being told what to do and what not to do, least of all by her own husband."

"Too right. She's a strong-willed woman."

"Oh yes, something that Arthur is very proud of."

Minerva nodded. "Albus tells me that the Board of Governors have been pressuring him into allowing Lockhart to teach a couple of classes, on dueling."

Now it was Edward's turn to look bewildered. "What would he teach? How to lose a duel while keeping your hair in the same place? How not to lose your smile while being beaten?"

Minerva fought the smile that tried to make its way onto her face. "After last year with that intruder, they're nervous about the students being caught up in it."

"I'm fairly certain that was a one-time deal."

"You might be, but the Board of Governors are not."

"Well nothing is going to happen so we won't have to worry about it."

For the first two months of class, Edward was right. Nothing did happen. September passed into October and by the end of the month, Edward had forgotten all about his conversation with Minerva. What he was contemplating today was his goddaughter, Ginny Weasley. In short, he was worried. "She's far too quiet Severus. She barely speaks and when she does, it's a mumble. The friends she made in the beginning of the year tell me that she's become a bit isolated. They're worried about her."

"I suspect that it may have a little to do with the tongue lashing she received from her older brother, the Gryffindor Prefect." Edward's brow went up and he motioned for Severus to explain. "As I understand it, he cornered her and started berating her for getting sorted into Slytherin. Of course, you'll be happy to know that the Weasley twins came to her rescue, I also believe that Ronald cast a successful tripping hex on Percival."

"And what were you doing exactly?"

"Observing. Of course, once it was over I gave the lot of them detention. I allowed Mrs. Weasley to escape detention. I was even nice enough to let Ronald escape detention since I could prove his involvement."

This caused Edward to chuckle. "And Percy?"

"Had to go to the hospital wing. He had boils everywhere and they looked rather painful." Edward's laugh rang out loud enough for passing students to hear all the way from outside his classroom.

Around midday, Edward ran into an irritated Laura Baxter, who was clutching what looked like the Muggle Studies textbook. "Where are you off to?"

"To see the Headmaster. This book is a disgrace to education." Laura declared, waving the book around.

"I told you it was rubbish."

"It's worse than rubbish! This thing hasn't been updated since the bloody 1950's!"

"It's that new? I could have sworn it hadn't been updated since the 1840's."

"Oh no, it was republished in 1957. But that isn't the point, the point is that it makes idiotic assumptions! Do you know that an entire chapter in this book is dedicated to deciphering the use of a rubber duck!"

Edward tried not to laugh, an image of Arthur Weasley asking Lily that same question popped into his head, but was unsuccessful which earned him a glare. "I'm sorry Laura, really I am. But we're talking about a culture that is stuck somewhere in the 17th century. Anyway, we never did get to go book shopping so if you like, I can take you book shopping during the holidays."

Laura looked at him coyly. "I know where Diagon Alley is Edward."

"Perhaps, but did you know that there is an entire Wizarding Library in London? It could give you some ideas."

Laura's eyes got very bright at that idea. "That would be wonderful."

"It's a date then." Edward smiled before walking off. He got all of 5 steps before realizing what he had said. He turned to correct himself but Laura was already skipping off, humming to herself the whole way. "Bloody hell what have I just gotten myself into?" Hesighed but a small smile crept onto his face. _It won't hurt to branch out a little I suppose. Besides, what could go wrong? It's just a trip to the library._ Little did he know what he was in for.

That night, during the feast, Harry sat with his friends at the Slytherin table. "Did you hear about Percy Weasley's little accident earlier this week?" Cassie asked.

"Of course, I heard. Most of the school has been going on about it."

"Poor Ginny, she must feel horrible." Draco put in.

"I hope that ponce Percy feels horrible for what he said to her." Harry scowled.

"Well he definitely felt horrible after the three remaining Weasley brothers were done with him." Cassie chuckled.

"Oh, I doubt they're done with him. In fact, neither are we." Harry answered with a glint in his eyes.

"What's our plan oh fearless leader?" Draco drawled.

"We'll discuss it later. For now, we feast."

Not at the feast, Neville, Ron, and Hermione were making their way back from the Nearly Headless Nick's death day party with disgusted looks on their faces. "Oh, that was absolutely horrible!" Hermione exclaimed.

"True, but at least we did a nice thing for Nick." Neville chided.

"Yeah but I could do with doing less nice things like that in the future." Ron said causing Neville to chuckle. The three friends walked in companionable silence when Neville stopped, a confused look on his face causing the other two to stop and look at him.

"What's wrong Neville?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Do you guys hear that noise?"

"What noise mate?" Ron asked confused.

Back in the Great Hall, Edward was lifting another forkful of roast to his mouth when he stopped cold.

 _Rip. Tear. Kill._ He nearly dropped his fork, extending his senses, he tried to listen for more but there was none. But he knew he wasn't crazy, and he knew what he had heard.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry freeze as well and look up at him, confusion written on his face. Edward motioned for Harry to keep eating. "Headmaster, Minerva, Severus, if you would come with me for a moment. Something is amiss I fear." Edward spoke quietly. Snape frowned and went to ask him what he was talking about but Edward shook his head. "I'll explain on the way."

With a huff from Severus and nods from Minerva and Albus, the four professors made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Where do you reckon, they are going?" Draco asked.

"I'll explain later."

The professors hurried down the hall. "What do you mean you heard something?" Minerva asked annoyedly.

"I heard something in parseltongue. Whatever it was, it said rip, tear, and kill."

Albus frowned. "Other than your familiar, what else in this castle can speak like that?"

"I don't know. It could be anything, but it was loud enough for me and Harry to hear so whatever it is must be big."

"Another basilisk perhaps?" Severus asked.

"Very possible."

"But where in the world would it have come from?" Minerva asked but Edward didn't answer as they had come upon a scene.

From a lamp post hung Filtch's cat Mrs. Norris by her tail. How she was still there Edward had no idea. Fitch was there wailing over his cat and yelling at the three children who had happened upon the scene. When Edward saw who the children were, he grimaced. "Mr. Filtch, why are you yelling at these students?"

"Because look what they did to my cat?!"

"Mr. Filtch, I can assure you that three second years couldn't do this." Albus advised.

"Take your cat the Madam Pomfrey. It looks petrified and the mandrakes should be mature in a few months to make the draught and cure her." Edward assured him. Fitch nodded, took his cat, and hurried off. Edward surveyed the scene while Albus spoke with the students. On the wall was a message which looked to be written in blood. "Albus, take a look at this message."

 _THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE!_

Albus frowned. Minerva gaped when she saw the message and Severus paled. "Mr. Longbottom, go with your friends to the feast, we'll have this cleaned up in no time." Albus advised the students.

Later, in the Albus' office, Flitwick had joined them. "Enemies of the heir beware? What on Earth could that mean?"

"It means we can probably expect more attacks similar to this one." Edward sighed.

"But aren't you technically the heir Edward?"

"I am the heir, the only one I am aware of at least. But someone is claiming it."

"The only other heir that I am aware of is the Dark Lord."

"Thank you, Severus, for that astute observation, but I'm fairly certain that my father, Voldemort, is not in this castle."

"And no one is going to suggest that Edward is behind this as we know exactly where he was at the time."

"But we don't know where his familiar is." Severus pointed out.

Edward rolled his eyes and held his arm out and spoke quietly in parseltongue. A small snake suddenly appeared, wrapped around his arm. It looked nearly flat against him and would have looked like some form of jewelry until it began to move, dropping itself gracefully onto the floor, it turned toward Severus. It flared its hood and hissed angrily, blaming Severus for interrupting its nap. Flitwick looked astonished. "My word, is that an Egyptian Basilisk?"

"Yes, he is. Pharaoh has been with me for many years now."

"How extraordinary!"

"Let's be clear, Edward is in no way responsible for this." Albus said, getting them back on track.

Minerva snorted. "Well we know that Albus, the question is, who is the culprit?"

No one had an answer for her and they talked about every possibility, coming to a dead end every time. After three hours of arguing, they decided to retire for the night and look into it more in the morning. "I suspect that we'll be most refreshed and better able to think once we've all had some rest." Albus advised.

"Bloody lot of good that'll do Filtch's cat, or anyone else if this supposed heir strikes again." Edward muttered to Minerva who nodded in agreement.

Albus sat down at his desk in deep thought. "Fawkes my friend, I fear that this will only get worse. If a student is attacked next, then I will be forced by the board to allow Lockhart into this school. Which isn't something I relish doing."

Fawkes trilled sadly. "Indeed, it is worrying. However, as much as I wouldn't mind that fraud being exposed, I would never do so at the expense of a student." Dumbledore sat back, rubbing his temples. _I have much to consider. But it is probably a good idea to take my own advice for once and get some rest._ With a tired sigh, and looking every bit his advanced age, Albus got up and made his way to his quarters for the night. It would take him sometime to fall asleep but when he did, he was haunted by memories of 50 years before, when the Chamber of Secrets was opened the first time. He was haunted by the empty gaze of the poor girl that had been killed by the creature and the smug look of the animal that he was sure had been responsible, but whose involvement he had never been able to prove which had cost another student his wand, his education, and nearly his life. Indeed, Albus Dumbledore had not had a restful night. But when he awoke the next morning he swore to himself that no one else would die because of inaction. And so, more determined than he had been in years, Albus made his way to the feast with a fresh perspective and new mindset. _Sometimes, horrible memories can be a good thing afterall._

 **And I'm ending it there. It was taking me too long to get this chapter out as it was and I didn't want to miss the whole month of March without updating. I'm so sorry about the wait but hopefully it's worth it. I'll definitely try to focus more on the next chapter but things have been busy. My wife has had issues with her blood sugar getting low which I figure probably means she should increase her sugar intake since she is eating for two now. She's a stubborn person though so that's been a tough task. Anyway, please review and IM me with any questions or concerns or theories that you may have. Have a lovely rest of the week and a great weekend!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!**

The next two weeks flew by in a hurry without incident, which was something that had everyone, students and teachers alike, sighing in relief. But Harry knew that it was merely the calm before the storm. Something was happening, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it before someone got hurt.

Cassie, on the other hand, did not share his enthusiasm. "Why not just let the teachers do it?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Because they might mess it up." Cassie just stared at him with a deadpan look. Finally, Harry sighed. "Fine. I'm curious."

"You know what your Mum says about curiosity Harry, about how it killed the cat?"

"Yeah, but did you know that satisfaction brought it back?" Harry asked with a chesire grin.

With a roll of her eyes, Cassie punched Harry lightly in the arm. "Shut up Harry." Draco rolled his eyes and directed his friends to the Slytherin table for dinner. "Besides that Harry, we've got Professor Dumbledore and Uncle Eddie on the case. We don't have anything to worry about."

Harry snorted. "We can't rely on them forever you know. Eventually we'll have to grow up."

"I know that. But we're only 12 Harry. It's ok to let the adults handle things." Cassie pointed out. Draco nodded dutifully as he began loading eggs and potatoes onto his plate.

"That's what you say, until a person gets petrified instead of a cat!" Cassie ignored Harry as she sat down and began loading her plate.

Of course, no one in the school had forgotten the message that stubbornly refused to be cleaned off of the wall. Talk about what had happened spread like wildfire. It spread so quickly, and refused to go away. It got to the point where students were interrupting classes to ask about it. Thus far, no one had dared do so in Defense class, until one day when Hermione Granger worked up the courage to do it.

"Sir?" Edward paused to see Hermione raising her hand expectantly.

"Yes Miss Granger?"

"I was wondering perhaps if you could tell us a bit about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Edward raised his brows. "That sounds more like a history question than something appropriate for my class Miss Granger."

The girl fidgeted slightly. "Well you see sir, Professor Binns refused to talk about it. He called it baseless speculation."

"I see." Edward sighed, shaking his head. "Of course, he would, he much prefers goblin wars. Well I guess I might as well indulge you with an actual history lesson. You see, about 1000 years ago, 2 witches and 2 wizards, the best of their generation, started this school. Every magic able child across Britain was invited to this school to learn and practice magic. However, around this time, we were in a crisis. The muggle government at the time was taking part in the witch hunt. Due to this, our magical government became very wary about muggles and by extension, muggleborns. The founders held no such qualms however and they refused to turn away muggleborns."

"How were they able to refuse the Ministry?" Hermione asked.

"Because the school and the Ministry are separate entities. We receive some funding, but not enough that it gives the Ministry any sway over us. Anyway, as I was saying, for many years the founders worked in harmony. But then, dissention appeared and broke them apart. Salazar Slytherin thought that muggleborns should be educated on our world before starting school. The other founders thought it unnecessary and Slytherin took exception to that. After one final argument that ended with Slytherin and Gryffindor throwing spells, Slytherin left the school. Of course, there is, according to legend, a secret chamber where he kept many of his experiments and the like. As a matter of fact, all of the founders have secret chambers all over the school but no one knows where they are nor what guards them. Although I've always thought it rather obvious what was guarding Slytherin's chamber."

Everyone looked confused for a moment. Hermione suddenly looked like she had come to a revelation. "It would be a snake!" She had forgotten to raise her hand in the excitement.

"Five points to Gryffindor! Of course, it would have to be a snake of some sort, since that is literally the symbol of Slytherin house."

Seamus raised his hand. "Wouldn't that be kind of obvious professor?"

"We are talking about the Wizarding World here. We don't account for the obvious." There were snickers throughout the class at that. "Besides, that's the only sort of creature that Salazar Slytherin would've had any hope of controlling. Dragons are far too strong willed and it just doesn't go with the name."

Hermione raised her hand this time, a questioning frown on her face. "So, the question remains professor, what kind of snake?"

"Ah Miss Granger, there is only one kind of snake that would befit the Heir of Slytherin."

There were many confused looks around the room when suddenly, "A basilisk!" A shocked Neville Longbottom exclaimed.

"Well done Mr. Longbottom! Five more points to Gryffindor! The king of the serpents, with a gaze that can kill you, how could you possibly hope to save yourself from this thing? How do you stop a gaze that can kill the moment you look it in the eyes?"

Dean raised his hand. "By diluting the gaze! If you could use a mirrored surface to reflect the gaze so that it would only petrify you! That's how Mrs. Norris survived!"

"Very good, 5 points to Gryffindor. The puddle of water reflected the gaze, it was the reflection that Mrs. Norris saw which allowed her to live, although petrified. Of course, it's easily curable. As soon as the mandrakes are matured, we'll be able to get her back to her normal annoying self." There were a few chuckles from the students.

"But how do we keep from being petrified or killed in the first place?"

"Move around in groups. Whoever is controlling the creature won't strike where there are multiple witnesses, it creates too many unknown variables. Once we find out who exactly is behind this, you can be assured that they will be punished most severely. They'll be sent to Azkaban if they're lucky, and they'll get the Kiss if they're not."

Hermione slowly raised her hand again. "Professor, now that we know what it is, where is the chamber located? How do we find this thing?"

Edward smiled. "Ah, that is the conundrum Miss Granger. If we knew that, there wouldn't be an issue. But rest assured, we are looking for it."

Later, Edward and Minerva were walking the dark corridors of the castle, looking for students out of bed. "Are you sure it was wise giving them that much information?"

Edward shrugged. "We'll see but you know Miss Granger, once she has the bit, she's unlikely to let go."

"Indeed. Why do you think the basilisk was placed in the school in the first place?"

"I would imagine it had something to do with scaring the acromantulas in the forest to keep them from the school. Hagrid knowing the father has little to do with the beasts not attacking the school."

"Oh I'm sure there's a respect there, but Hagrid doesn't have that much control. The only thing those creatures are scared of is sitting in that chamber, where ever that is."

Unbeknownst to them, 3 floors down in the girls' bathroom, a young redhead girl with blank eyes stood before what had been a sink but was now a hole. To the unknowing bystander, she would have been hissing. But it was more than that. She was unknowingly summoning a monster.

The next morning, everyone was sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast, when Mr. Filtch ran into the room, bolting as fast as anyone has ever seen him up to Professor Dumbledore. He whispered something into the Headmaster's ear which made the older man pale considerably. With a word to Professors McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Riddle, the four professors hurried out of the Great Hall followed by Mr. Filtch.

Cassie had a worried look on her face. "What do you think is going on?"

"I bet someone else has been petrified." Harry stated grimly.

"But it's been weeks since the cat was petrified! It can't be that."

"Someone else has been petrified." Professor Riddle told the gathered Slytherins an hour later. Harry had the decency to not rub it in. Classes had been cancelled for the day, which created a three-day weekend. Normally, the students would be overjoyed with getting Friday off. But because of the attack, no one was cheering. "A young first year, Colin Creevy was taking pictures around Hogwarts last night when he was attacked. He did see the monster through his camera so he's petrified instead of dead, but we don't know who is unleashing the creature because the film was fried by the creature's stare." He surveyed the frightened faces of his students. "From now on, no one will be out of bed after curfew. No student will travel alone. You will be with a professor at all times from class to class. If you are without a professor, then you must travel in groups of at least 6." There was some murmuring among the students. "I know it's restricting and I don't like doing this, but I want you all to be safe. All the other houses are doing the same thing. Once we catch the culprit, we'll go back to normal. Just have patience until then. Watch each other's back and if you see anything suspicious, report it to a professor immediately." There were nods all around. "Very good, now I'll walk you all back to your common room and then I'll pick you all up for meals around noon."

That afternoon, Albus Dumbledore held a meeting in his office with all of the professors. "We meet today to discuss a letter that I just received from the Board of Governors."

"What do they have to say now?" Professor Sprout asked irritably which earned her a sympathetic look from Minerva.

Albus sighed. "They are ordering us to play host to one Gilderoy Lockhart."

There was a tense silence for a moment before Edward began to laugh. "They really think that idiot will make any difference?"

"Is this some sort of a joke Headmaster?" Severus Snape asked.

"It would seem as if the Board has lost faith in our ability to protect our students." Minerva stated.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, I was overridden on the matter. But on the bright side, he won't interfere with any classes. He'll mostly just be patrolling the corridors and attempting to investigate. I have little doubt that he will fail."

Edward looked unconvinced. "Oh, I guarantee that he'll find a way to interfere with my class."

Minerva nodded. "It'd be foolish to think he won't since it's Defense Against the Dark Arts. That's what he supposedly specializes in."

There were nods all around. Albus steeped his fingers in thought. "That would be counterproductive to finding the person behind these attacks. We need a way to distract him."

"Perhaps have him start a dueling club." Professor Flitwick suggested.

"Do you really want that blow hard teaching students his style of dueling?" Edward asked skeptically.

"Well no, I figured Severus and I could 'assist'. Of course, I'll try to persuade you to help with at least the first lesson. But he'll be far too busy with Severus and I breathing down his neck to be a liability to you."

Albus adopted a thoughtful look. "It may just work my friend."

Edward nodded reluctantly. "Very well. I'll leave it up to you Filius."

As they spoke, Harry sat with his friends discussing the attack in their common room. "See Cassie, I told you this would happen!"

"Now isn't the time for bragging Harry, but I guess you're right that we need to look into this a little bit." Cassie said sadly.

Draco nodded. "We've got some work to do."

"Ok so we know that it can't be anyone in our house because we'd have noticed something off about them." Harry reasoned.

"Not necessarily. We aren't everywhere. Until we have more information, everyone is suspect." Draco stated with Cassie nodding in agreement.

"Alright so where do we start then?" Harry asked.

"We open our eyes and pay attention to everyone. We act like true Slytherins, and observe." Draco stated.

Harry grinned. "I like it."

"So glad you approve." Cassie drawled, rolling her eyes. Harry just glared at her in response.

That Monday morning, as the students were eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, the doors to the Great Hall opened and in strolled a man with an exuberant air about him. Everything about him screamed cocky and over confident. Almost everyone in the room recognized him and the whispers started. "That's Lockhart!" "What's he doing here?" "He must be here to investigate the attacks!" "Monster beware!" The whispers only made the grin on the man's face even wider which caused many of the teachers to roll their eyes.

"Hello there Professor Dumbledore! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart although I'm sure you already know that!"

"Indeed Mr. Lockhart. The Board of Governors advised me of your arrival and we already have quarters prepared for you. Severus will show you." Said professor nearly choked on the bite of food he had just eaten which caused Edward to pat him on the back pityingly.

By Wednesday, notices were posted in every common room advertising the dueling club that was to be held Saturday evening. "Well this will be interesting." Harry said sarcastically.

"You never know Harry, he may actually be able to teach us something." Draco answered just as sarcastically.

"You're both just jealous." Pansy said spitefully which got an eyeroll out of Cassie who was working on a Charms essay. "Jealous of what Parkinson? His smile?"

"Shut up Black! No one asked you anything!"

"Oh, give it a rest Pansy, his lesson will be useless. The only saving grace is that Professor Flitwick, a former dueling champion, will be there. I bet he knows loads more than that idiot." Daphne stated

Pansy scowled but wisely kept silent. Harry sighed irritably. "She's right. Unless someone competent is there, that lesson will be horrible."

"Too bad that it's mandatory." Draco stated with a scowl.

"Not much we can really do about it unfortunately. Anyway, we should probably take after Cassie's example and get this Charms essay done." They all grudgingly agreed and got to work.

That Saturday, many students hurried to the Great Hall in anticipation for the dueling lesson they were about to receive. In the middle of the room was a long-raised platform, and atop that platform, stood a beaming Lockhart. "Welcome all! Come around here if you please! Let us get started." The students all followed his command and circled the platform. At the front, many of Hogwart's female population stood giggling girlishly at the man who beamed at them with a wink which only caused the girls to giggle more. "Now then, tonight begins your very first dueling lesson! Here to assist are Professors Flitwick, Snape, and for one night only Professor Riddle!" Edward glared at the boisterous man. "Tonight, I will teach you how to defend yourself in the form of a duel should you come against someone who intends to harm you. But first, a demonstration is in order! Professor Riddle will assist me in that."

Edward grudgingly moved forward to stand on one end of the platform while Lockhart moved to the other. "We will disarm only Professor." Edward nodded.

"Now, now Gilderoy, if we are going to teach them dueling, we should do a real demonstration. Show us a real duel Gilderoy." Snape drawled, stealthily putting up a shield around the platform.

"Oh, what a brilliant idea Severus! Very well then! We will show you a true duel! Don't fret though, I'll return your professor to you in one piece." Edward felt his blood begin to boil as a tick formed on his head. With a flick of his wrist his wand appeared in his hand. _I'll show you a real duel you glamour hogging fraud!_

Harry looked at their head of house and whispered to his friends. "I think Mr. Lockhart is about to get the shock of his life." Cassie nodded in agreement.

"Now Professor, let us bow."

"No." Gilderoy blinked in surprise. "When you are dueling for your life, there are no playing by the rules. Dispense with the pleasantries Gilderoy, let's go."

"Very well! _Expelliarmus!"_ The red spell flew towards the professor who merely stood there, a bored expression on his face, and impacted an invisible barrier. Lockhart looked on, shock evident on his face. "H-how?"

"Come now Gilderoy, that can't be all you have, can it?"

Lockhart grit his teeth and began firing off disarming spells, trying to catch the Defense professor unawares. They all either impacted an invisible barrier or he side-stepped them, doing very little else and all with the same bored expression on his face. After several minutes of this, with Lockhart obviously tiring out, Edward decided it was time to end this farce and with a quick flick of his wand, he had Lockhart disarmed, stunned, and bound in ropes on the floor. He walked towards Snape. "Severus, when you decide to wake up, give him this for me." He handed him Lockhart's wand and with a nod to the students, he left the room, the eyes of everyone in the room following him.

That Monday, the Ravenclaw first years were in Transfiguration when Minerva noticed that the minds of her class were elsewhere. With an irritated sigh, she decided to address the issue. "What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you lot?"

Emma raised her hand. "I think everyone is still a little thunderstruck at the display they saw Saturday night."

"Ah, I see now. Well he isn't the defense professor for nothing you know. He fought during the first war and faced off against the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange and even, You-Know-Who himself multiple times. The stories he could probably tell you are numerous. What you saw Saturday is but a small taste of what he's capable of."

Another first year raised his hand. "Have you seen him fight before Professor?"

Minerva smiled at the question. "Oh yes, several times. I can promise you that there are few wizards and witches who are as well gifted and talented on the field of battle as he is. Anyway, if there are any more questions, you'd be better off asking him yourself. Now, let us return to the lesson."

After Edwards last class of the day with the Gryffindor second years, he noticed that Hermione Granger had yet to leave her desk. "Miss Granger, is there something the matter?"

This startled the girl a little. "Oh, no professor, I just wanted to talk to you is all."

"Oh? Should I be worried?" He asked in jest.

Granger frowned a little. "I just wanted to talk to you about Saturday."

Edward sighed quietly. "Yes, I thought as much." He sat down at his desk and conjured a chair in front of the desk for Hermione to sit down.

The girl sat down. "I was just thinking, if Mr. Lockhart did all of those things in his books, then how was he so easily bested?"

Edward sighed in relief. "Well I'm of the belief that he didn't do any of those things. My reason for that is that there are too many inconsistencies. For instance, there are no spells to reverse the werewolf transformation during the full moon. The only way to do that is to kill said werewolf."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I wondered about that. But why lie about it? Is he just going for the attention? You know he really enjoys the attention some of the female students give him. He is almost always surrounded by girls and he flirts with them shamelessly! Underaged girls professor!"

Edward frowned. "Does he do anything physical? Have you ever seen him touch one of these girls inappropriately?"

She shook her head. "No sir. But I don't know what he says to these girls so I don't know what he does behind closed doors."

Edward looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll have Professor McGonagall look into it, quietly of course. But there really isn't much we can do unless one of these girls comes forward or we catch him in the act." Hermione nodded in agreement. "Just make sure you stay clear from him alright? I don't want you getting caught up in this."

She shook her head. "I haven't tried to speak with him since I've realized that he was probably a fraud. But I don't just want to talk about that. I wanted to ask you about the Chamber of Secrets." Edward went to speak when the door opened and Professor Baxter walked in. "Ah, I didn't know you were entertaining a guest Professor."

Edward rolled his eyes but smiled. "No, come in Laura. Miss Granger was just asking me about the Chamber."

Laura's face took on a solemn look. "Ah I see. You don't mind if I listen in do you?"

Edward waved his hand. "No of course not, have a seat." He waved his wand and conjured another chair. "Now, what would you like to know Miss Granger?"

"Well, I was wondering, has the Chamber ever been opened before?"

"Yes, fifty years ago."

Hermione blinked. "Oh, was the perpetrator ever caught?"

"Supposedly. But I'm fairly certain they caught the wrong man. You see, the Head Boy at the time, my father, caught a certain student who enjoyed the company of dangerous creatures, still does to be honest, and accused him of being the person who opened the Chamber. Poor Hagrid nearly went to Azkaban because he thought it a good idea to try to raise an accromantula in Hogwarts."

Hermione gasped. "Hagrid? Who would ever believe that Hagrid would do that?"

Edward shrugged. "The Ministry was just glad to have someone to blame. Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore was able to intercede on his behalf to keep him out of Azkaban and convinced the then Headmaster to hire him on as the assistant Gamekeeper."

"Do you have an idea of who actually did it?"

"Oh, I have more than that Miss Granger. I know exactly who did it."

Hermione looked skeptical. "How?"

"Because he's the only one who could have done it. You see, almost 70 years ago, a homeless, pureblood witch by the name of Merope Gaunt stumbled into an orphanage and died in childbirth right there on the floor. And there, that baby grew into a spiteful, evil little boy who enjoyed hurting people and causing pain."

"Why was the woman homeless?"

"Her father and brother had been sent to Azkaban for attacking a Ministry official. They were a poor family to begin with but she had to sell her family's prized relics in order to get a little money to eat with. You see she ended up that way because she fell in love with a muggle. She seduced that muggle with a love potion because she knew she'd never get him with her looks alone. But when she became with child, she thought that the muggle would stay with her so she stopped giving him the potion. Once it wore off and he realized what had happened, he left her immediately."

"You can't really blame him for that." Laura pointed out.

"Oh, definitely not. Anyway, this little boy grew up and found out he was a wizard. So, he went to Hogwarts and after some searching, found out he was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin. I'm not sure how he found the chamber, but he did and he wreaked havoc with it. But after a girl died from the creature, the Board of Directors got involved and the boy knew that if he didn't stop, he'd be caught. So, he blamed poor Hagrid and now he has a plaque in the trophy for special services to the school." Edward shook his head at that.

"So, the true perpetrator was never even caught!?" Hermione raged.

"No, he wasn't."

"Who was it then?" Laura asked.

Edward smiled sadly. "His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Hermione gasped. "That must've been your father!"

"Yes unfortunately. You see, that nasty little boy named Tom Riddle became a nasty, hateful man. Somewhere around his fourth or fifth year, he came up with a new name to sever his ties from his muggle father whom he would murder in cold blood in his sixth year and his pure blood uncle, Morfin Gaunt, would be blamed for it. He even confessed because he remembered doing it. It was around then that he adopted the name that the magical world would fear for years and years to come, Lord Voldemort."

Laura's eyes went a little wide. "So, your father was-

"An evil, racist bastard who can't even call himself a man, that killed my mother after she refused to join him in his horrible crusade? Yes indeed."

Hermione frowned. "From what I've read about You-Know-Who, you're nothing like him at all."

Edward chuckled a bit. "Thank you, Miss Granger. Thankfully, the few other people that know the truth agree with you."

Laura smiled. "I have to agree with them."

Hermione nodded. "Well I'd better go Professor, homework to do and all that." She got up and made her way toward the door when she stopped and turned around. "I assume this needs to remain a secret."

Edward nodded with a smile. "Your intelligence does you credit Miss Granger. I would appreciate it."

With a nod, Hermione turned and left to head to the common room, she had homework to do. Laura however remained behind for a moment. "I do hope you weren't trying to get out of our Christmas break date."

Edward laughed. "No ma'am. I just thought that you deserved to know the truth about me."

"It doesn't change how I feel. I still expect that date from you."

"I'd be honored." With a smile, Laura made her way out of the room, leaving Edward feeling lighter than he had in years. _Now, if I can just figure out who is opening the Chamber now._

 **I'm sorry this took so darn long but I've had quite a bit going on. I found out that I'm having a little girl so we've been busy getting ready for that! Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, it took me forever to write. If you have any questions, feel free to IM me! Also, please review so that I know what you think about my story thus far. And thank you all for your patience!**

 **Edit: I got a review that corrected me on the correct usage of Miss and Mrs. I'm a little ashamed because I should have known that lol Unfortunately, the reviewer was signed in as guest so I can't respond to him directly. I also made some other small changes so I hope you guys don't mind! Have a great day and weekend!**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own HP!

Christmas break came quickly and the student body was excited as usual. Edward had opted into staying only so he could look for the chamber unimpeded since Lockhart was going home for Christmas. Of course, he'd leave the castle Christmas day to be with his friends and he had a date to look forward to, but he was hoping to find the chamber and put an end to the horror that had been that year up to that point. The morning the train was set to leave Hogsmeade Edward wasn't alone in his room. Harry and Cassie had both snuck to his office using the invisibility cloak that Harry had gotten from his father. "Was it wise telling Granger your story?" Harry got right to the point as per usual which earned him an elbow to the ribs from Cassie.

"I'm sure it's my decision to make Harry." Edward replied not unkindly, but firmly.

"I know and you know I respect that. And I like Hermione, she's a nice girl who's much more intelligent than the majority of the female populace, but she's also a bit of a motor mouth."

"Has anyone found out yet?"

"Well, no not yet."

"Then I don't think I have anything to worry about. I'm assuming she confronted the two of you about it?"

It was Cassie that answered after glaring Harry into silence. "Not really. She got Harry and I alone and asked if we knew who your father was. It was the way she asked the question that clued us in that she knew."

"The way she asked?"

"Yes sir. She asked very pointedly. If we had been confused then she'd have known that we had no idea and would've dropped the subject. But since we obviously knew, she carried on the conversation." Edward smiled at that. It seemed intelligence wasn't just a trait that Hermione had, it was a trait that his Goddaughter as well as Harry had inherited. _No doubt they get it from their mothers._

"Well I am glad that you are all friends then."

The two nodded and Edward went back to work until he noticed moments later that they hadn't left yet. "You're going to miss the train."

Harry ignored that and went right into it, as usual. "Does Mr. Malfoy know your secret?"

Edward blinked at that. "I've never really thought of that, but more than likely. Mrs. Malfoy knows so I'm sure he does."

"What do you think about us including Draco in on the secret?" Cassie inquired which caused Edward to be a bit uneasy. It wasn't that he disliked the boy, he really didn't. He rather liked Draco, he reminded Edward a lot of himself. But it was that more and more people would be learning his secret that had him uneasy. Besides the fact that if Lucius really didn't know his secret, he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with the son of one of his enemies knowing. He was sure Lucius probably scanned the boy's thoughts fairly often so what if Lucius didn't already know and found out?

What would he do with that information? Edward wasn't sure he wanted to find out. He knew that Lucius wouldn't have found out from reading Narcissa, since she was a Black and they were notorious for having great mental defenses and Lucius wasn't that great at Legilimency at any rate. But Draco's defenses wouldn't be that developed, especially if Lucius was trying as hard to control him as it seemed. But to appease Cassie and Harry, Edward responded with "I'll think about it and let you know." Of course, they accepted the answer, Cassie with a frown, and left him to his thoughts which relieved Edward greatly.

He loved Harry and Cassie and their inquisitive nature was a joy to watch, but they sometimes crossed the line into none of their business territory. Edward shook his head and began to ponder the problem of the Chamber and its location. He had studied the layout of the entire castle several times and had yet to discern a possible location. He knew something had to be done before someone else got petrified or worse, killed.

That was something he knew he couldn't allow to happen so he endeavored to figure it out before that happened. Suddenly, an owl flew through the cracked window with a letter from Laura. Edward smiled as he read the note reminding him of their date a few days from then. After reading it, he folded the note, fed the owl a piece if leftover bacon from the plate he'd had delivered for breakfast and sent it on its way. He stood up with a smile on his face but it morphed into a grim look as he began his search for the elusive Chamber.

On the Express, Harry, Cassie, and Draco sat in their compartment relaxed. Harry and Cassie were both giddy for the holidays while Draco looked a little morose. Harry and Cassie knew why this was the case. Draco had asked his mother if Draco could stay with Cassie since they are related. His request was promptly denied.

"Don't worry Draco, I'll talk to my dad and he'll see what he can do." Draco looked doubtful but said nothing, quickly changing the subject to quidditch which had Cassie rolling her eyes.

Finally, the train pulled into the station, slowing down as it prepared to stop. Once it rolled to a stop, the students on the train began piling off as quickly as they could manage. This amused James to know end as he waited on his charges to make their way to him. "Hey dad." Said Harry breathlessly. "Where's Sirius?"

"Oi! Am I not good enough for you?" James asked doing his best to look offended.

"I suppose you'll do." Said Emma haughtily as she threw her arms around his waist. "Missed you daddy."

"At least someone did." James proclaimed as he returned the hug.

"Suck up." Harry joked as he went in for a hug of his own.

James straightened himself after the greetings were done. "Padfoot is at the Ministry working on a Marauder project so he sent me to get you lot."

"Awe Uncle James, you do care." Cassie exclaimed playfully.

"I suppose. But only a little." James then noticed Draco, who was caught up in a conversation with Hermione Granger. He made a mental note to see if he could get them both over for Christmas if possible.

Back at the Ministry, Sirius was indeed working on their project. The goal was simple enough, but easier said than done as his Grandfather would say. He shook his head to clear any bleariness and returned to the tedious work he had set himself to. He was going through files of former Deatheaters and matching the family name with current ministry employees. It wasn't difficult work so much as it was slow.

Sirius rubbed his eyes, looking at the clock. He smiled when he saw the time. _Cassie should be at Potter Manor by now._ With a sigh he looked at how far he had to go and made the decision to call it a day. He'd gotten through to the H's so he was making good headway which meant that it wouldn't hurt to head home then. It was a whistling Sirius Black that came through the floo at Potter Manor, smiling as his daughter ran for him.

Almost a week later, Edward entered his chambers with a scowl on his face. "You'd think it'd be easy to find a 70-foot-long snake and where it lives, but no. Slytherin had to hide it so that even his own descendants would have problems with finding it. How in the bloody blue hell did my father even find this thing in the first place?"

"That is unclear. He didn't leave any instructions." Albus stated smoothly as he entered.

Edward whipped around, scowl still on his face before his eyes lit up with an idea. "Of course! We find whoever is opening the Chamber and we'll be able to find the Chamber itself. The question is, who."

Albus thought a moment. "What if it isn't a person per say."

"What do you mean?" Asked Edward confusedly.

"Think about it, the last time the Chamber was open was 50 years ago. That was done by a parselmouth. Who else but a parselmouth could open it now?"

"A fair point, however there is a glaring flaw. There are only 3 parselmouths in this school and none of them would purposefully open the Chamber and set the beast loose."

"I don't believe it to be the boys or you. However, what if it were someone doing it against their will? What if they were being possessed?"

"By who?"

"Who else? Your father."

"Impossible, you told me your sources place him in Albania."

"Perhaps, but it's the only explanation that makes sense right now."

Edward knew Albus was right. "Say you're right, who is it and how do we find them?"

Albus shrugged. "That is the question isn't it? As to the answer, I don't know."

Edward sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this." Albus could only concur.

The next day, Edward put the troubles of the school out of his mind as he made his way to the Baxter residence in Sheerwater. He rapped on the door and waited. A moment later, the door eased open revealing a middle-aged woman who must've been Laura's mother. She was Laura's height, about 5 feet 5 inches, with brown hair streaked with grey. "Hello, I'm Lorraine. You must be Edward."

Edward smiled and nodded. "I am, Lorraine and it's a pleasure to meet you."

She dodged the hand he offered and hugged him, after which she backed away to let him into the home. Immediately upon entering he noticed an adjacent room off to the right where, in a recliner, sat a surely man who glared at him over his paper. Edward merely looked at him with a raised brow in amusement which caused the man to huff and ignore him. "Ignore Gordon. He's never been very happy with Laura's inclusion into your world so he disapproves of you." The man immediately made him think of Lily's brother in law, Vernon Dursley which made him dislike the man automatically.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, I'm here to pick up Laura."

"Let me call her for you."

Moments later, Laura came bounding down the steps ready to go. Edward had told her to dress casually so she had jeans and a purple sweater on. "You do believe in punctuality I see."

It was with a smile he replied. "But of course. I am a teacher after all."

And so, they departed for the wizarding library in London with a crack of apparation.

The next day was Christmas at the Black Family House and Sirius had pulled out all the stops for it. There were decorations as far as the eye could see and the tree was nearly as tall as the ceiling in the main living room. The children were waiting on the adults as they did every year with a mug of hot chocolate provided via Kreacher.

After the flurry of present opening was done, the children wandered off to play while the adults put the final touches on that night's Christmas family dinner.

Edward had just arrived and was being greeted by James when Sirius sauntered over to him. "So, did you invite your new friend?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"The thought did cross my mind." Suddenly the floo flared behind him and Laura stepped out causing James to laugh at Sirius' stunned expression. James held his hand out to his friend. "Pay up Pads." Sirius, disgruntled, took out a few galleons and dropped them into James' waiting hand.

Edward turned to Laura. "I told you there was a bet." Laura rolled her eyes mumbling about grown children.

That night, there was a full table in the dining area. The Weasleys had been invited as well as the Tonks'. The bewildered Grangers had been apparated in and the unwilling Malfoys round out the guests. Sirius' great aunt Cassiopeia had been invited but was feeling under the weather so she declined after reassuring Sirius that it was nothing.

"How did you bully the Malfoys?" Asked a curious Remus.

"It's simple Moony, Head of House rules. I'm the Head so I make the rules. If I 'request' a Christmas dinner, it's basically an order." Answered a grinning Sirius.

"That and I asked him to." James stated walking up on the two. Remus rolled his eyes. "Cassie and Harry both said they wanted Draco and the Grangers over so I asked Sirius and he made it happen." Sirius nodded sagely.

Later that night, after the guests had gone home and the children laid in bed sleeping, the adults gathered round in the sitting room. Laura had opted to stay behind not quite ready to return to her lonely flat just yet.

"How's it going with the Chamber?" Lily asked what was on everyone's mind.

Edward shook his head. "No luck. I know it must be under the school but I'm having trouble finding an access point."

"It has to be related to the pipes. How else does something that big move throughout the school unseen?" Laura advised.

"And again love, the issue is in finding an access point for the perpetrator to unleash the creature."

"Any suspects?" James asked.

"Albus seems to think it's my father possessing someone into opening the Chamber."

"You don't agree?" Sirius inquired.

"Not directly no. Not the way he did last year in any case."

Remus frowned. "What if it has something to do with how he's still alive?" Everyone looked thoughtful at that.

"It must have taken evil magic to achieve such a thing." Walburga stated with a shudder.

And that's when it hit Edward like a freight train. Evil magic. One of the blackest magic in existence. "Horcruxes." That one word, so horrible was the thought he didn't think anyone was capable of such horror. But it explained so much.

Sirius was equally horrified. "Bloody hell."

Lauren and Lily shared confused looks as Edward went to floo Albus with their theory. Minutes later, Albus sat before them, just as horrified as the rest. "I never thought Tom would fall so far, and yet he did."

"Forgive me Albus, but what are horcruxes?" Asked a confused Lily.

"Horcruxes are objects created by the act of cold blooded murder, an act that goes against nature thereby splitting the soul. The person wanting to create this thing then prepares the vessel using complex spells before transferring the split piece of soul into the object before adding protections to it."

"While it would make him, for all intents and purposes, immortal," Edward continued, "they make you less human the more you make. Each time you do it, it splits off half of your remaining soul. The trick here is, figuring out how many he made, what they are, and finding them."

"I have a theory on that." Albus muttered. "He was fascinated with magic. The strongest magical number is seven."

Edward could barely wrap his head around the idea that someone would split their soul in half seven times.

"I also have a theory on what some of them might be."

"Probably items that belonged to the founders." James wondered aloud.

Albus nodded grimly. "And a couple of more items that don't fall into that category."

"So how do we destroy these...these things?" Laura was suitably shaken.

"There are two, possibly three ways. Fiendfire, basilisk venom, and possibly the killing curse." Edward recanted what he had read.

Sirius grinned. "Well, we have the venom in spades!" That earned a weak chuckle from the group.

"So, the rest of the year we spend our free time solving the Chamber mystery." Albus gestured to Edward, Laura, and himself as he said this. "And afterwards, we work on permanently ridding the world of the stain that is Tom Riddle." No one argued with that.

 **And there is chapter 9 at last. I'm so sorry that took as long as it did! It's difficult find the time to work on this when you have an almost 3 month old baby to care for but I've found a way so hopefully my posting time will improve...maybe. We'll see. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's a little shorter than usual but I figured I made you wait long enough! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Which is probably for the best because if I did, I'd still be working on book 3 right now…**

Edward strode towards the hospital wing with a purpose. Harry was there getting looked over by the Matron and Ginny was asleep, traumatized by the experience. How had it come to this? Well…

It started in mid-February when the attacks started up again. Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost had been petrified while a student, Ravenclaw Justin Finch-Fletchley, had been petrified because he saw the creature through Nick instead of getting the full blast. Then he had felt his stomach drop when Hermione had been petrified along with fellow muggleborn Penelope Clearwater in the library. Hermione had heard the beast coming and made it to where they would only get petrified thanks to using Penelope's mirror. As genius as it sounded, being petrified was not an enjoyable experience from what he had read. Usually it was just a coma like state but there had been instances where the victim remained aware the entire time, unable to move or do anything for themselves. A terrible fate. Edward was fairly hopeful in the strength of a basilisk's stare so he that its victims were hopefully in the coma state. The latter option didn't bear entertaining.

Then, just that morning, Ginny had disappeared, kidnapped and taken into the Chamber itself if the message " _Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever"_ was any clue. He doubted that was entirely the case. Edward had figured at that point that Ginny had been possessed which explained every question he had about her behavior that year. He could've bashed his own head in for not figuring it out sooner. She was his God-daughter and he felt terrible. So, he made his way to the Chamber after McGonagall's staff meeting. Dumbledore would've been there except earlier that week he had been suspended by the Board at the urging of none other than Malfoy. Draco had received a lot of glares after that. Draco hated it of course and told everyone he could that he didn't agree with his father but it accomplished little.

So, Edward had made his way to the first-floor girls' loo after an epiphany about Moaning Myrtle hit him. Her death coincided with the Chambers first opening 50 years before. Again, he could box his own ears for not figuring it out. Her haunting grounds would be her place of death, the loo. Combine that with the piece of parchment found in Hermione's fist after her petrification that read, "It's using the sewer pipes!", lead Edward to the conclusion that the Chamber entrance sat in the most obvious place ever, the loo. He felt like a moron as he entered the loo to find a hole in the floor where the sink had once been. He closed his eyes and breathed in exasperation. Of course, someone else had found it. Harry, Cassie, and Draco probably. _Lily's going to kill me._ With a sigh he leapt down the pipe and slid down into the bowels of the castle where he found two of the aforementioned three along with, Ron, Neville, and an unconscious Lockhart who had apparently tried to use Ron's wand that had been cracked in their fall to obliviate them. Of course, Lockhart was a fraud, just like Edward had been telling people. And of course, the spell backfired which not only obliviated Lockhart into unconsciousness, but also caused a large cave in that left Harry on one side and everyone else on the other. _Lily is really going to kill me._

He waved his wand towards the pile of rocks and a path opened up as the stone and rock that had once been there turned into sand. He was prepared to walk through when a noise in the pipe that eerily sounded like a yelp sounded off behind him. He turned just in time to see his girlfriend land, rather gracefully he thought, on her feet. She stood up straight, rather proud of herself and surveyed the area. "Blimey what happened here?"

"You can ask them while you wait here." Edward said, trying to be patient. He knew she was here thinking she could help and while he didn't blame her, he also knew she would be of little assistance. "Unless of course you can speak parseltongue?"

She stuck her tongue out at him which made him chuckle. "Don't worry love, I'll be fine. I never travel alone." He extended his arm and Pharaoh became visible. Moving down Edward's arm, the Basilisk landed on the ground and immediately began to grow into its normal size as it slithered through the rock and stone. With a wink, Edward left Lauren and the gob smacked children behind as he followed his familiar, hoping Harry hadn't gotten himself killed yet.

He made his way through the chamber and through an open door, he caught a glimpse of Harry standing next to the prone form of Ginny, wand pointed at an older teenage boy whom Edward recognized immediately. _Fuck._ As he got closer, he disillusioned himself and he began to make out the words Tom Riddle was saying. "I was hoping that Neville Longbottom would be here. After all, he is the one who defeated Lord Voldemort." The boy said casually which caused Harry to snort. "Talking about yourself in the third person is never a good sign."

Tom scowled. "And how do you know who I am."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Your name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, right? That's how you introduced yourself anyway. I know Voldemort's real name, and it's you."

The scowl on Tom's face became a snarl. "And how do you know that brat?!"

"Because I told him." Edward chose that moment to reveal himself. "Hello, father." Edward greeted mockingly causing Tom's face to morph into one of surprise. "I often wondered if you were always arrogant or if you grew into it. I'm glad to see that you continue to not disappoint." Edward quipped sarcastically.

Tom sneered, recovering from his shock. "Lies!" He spat venomously knowing that if it were true then he would hold no control over the basilisk.

"You think I'd lie about that?" Edward asked amusedly. "Why don't you call the basilisk then and we'll let her decide." It wasn't a question.

"You dare to insult and order Lord Voldemort! Very well then if you want to die so badly then I'll be happy to oblige!" Tom turned to face the statue of Salazar Slytherin. _Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!"_ The mouth of the statue opened and from within, the creature came forth, its massive body shaking the ground as it landed and it then made its way, twitching irritably telling Edward that the creature was already fighting the control Tom had over it, towards them. Edward had no fear, knowing that Pharaoh was nearby and out of sight. The moment things turned ugly he would enter the fray. Edward hoped it wasn't necessary. He felt some pity for the poor creature in front of him as he understood that what his father was making it do went against everything its original master, Salazar Slytherin, had instilled within her.

As Edward went to speak to try to break the spell holding the creature, Harry beat him to it. _"You've hurt a lot of people, surely your original master did not intend for that?"_

The great serpent shook its head wildly. _"No! That was not the purpose for which I was placed here. Salazar placed me down here to help protect the school, not attack her students!"_

Edward blinked. It was apparently a she who was very conflicted at the moment. She was responding to Harry which could be seen as odd since she was only supposed to obey descendants of Slytherin, unless….

" _Then you must fight the bonds that hold you! Don't let him use you anymore!"_

"Be silent you little brat!" The shade of Tom Riddle raged. _"You will do as I command for I am the Heir!"_

" _Not anymore!"_ The basilisk screamed before shooting venom at the diary, burning right through it and with a scream that consisted of both pain and rage, the shade was rent apart as black mist rose from the burnt remains of the diary and dissipated as the shade that was once Tom Riddle, vanished. The basilisk then turned to Harry, lowering her head. _"You are now the Heir I will serve."_ She then glanced at Edward, seemingly challenging him to deny her. Edward's lips quirked upward.

" _Oh no, I'll not interfere. After all, I have my own."_ Lazily, Pharaoh slithered into view, his great length dwarfing Slytherin's monster by at least 15 feet as well as in girth. _"Stop showing off."_ Edward chastised amusedly as the female that Harry decided to call Nissa eyed Pharaoh warily before he shrank himself down, coiling himself around Edwards left arm. Suddenly, a groan from behind Harry drew their attention to Ginny who began to stir.

"W-what happened to me? H-have to warn somebody."

"It's alright Gin, we're here." Harry soothed her as Ginny blearily looked around taking in the two faces above her.

"H-harry? Uncle Eddie? I'm safe?"

"You are now Ginny." Edward assured. "Voldemort is gone for good." _That version of him anyway._

"I tried to tell someone, but T-Tom wouldn't let me!" Ginny said as tears rolled down her cheeks and Edward wondered, worriedly what she had been through.

" _Fret not little one, for your actions were not your own."_ Nissa told her.

Ginny blinked in surprise, screwed her face in concentration and, to the shock of Edward and Harry, she responded. _"If I can't blame myself, then neither can you. You were just as much possessed as I was."_ A shocked silence followed.

"Bloody hell." Harry murmured.

"Language Harry." Ginny teased. She then looked at Edward in concern. "How can I still communicate with her?"

Edward looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps being possessed by the spirit of Voldemort passed some of his abilities off to you, kind of like what happened with Neville. He needed you to have the ability to speak it so he could open the chamber so you must have simply retained the ability. Quite extraordinary if you ask me."

Ginny worried her lip. "Can we not tell my family? I just don't want them to freak out, especially mum. You know what she's like."

Edward nodded. "They'll find out eventually you know, but very well I'll leave that up to you."

"W-was that, your dad?" Harry asked.

"It was, unfortunately. He was a bit of a brat to be honest, I wasn't impressed." Ginny and Harry laughed weakly as Nissa shrank herself down and curled herself around Harry's arm before disappearing from sight. _It seems that those abilities aren't exclusive to just Egyptian basilisks._

The trio made their way back to the entrance of the chamber where Lockhart was still unconscious. As soon as Ron saw Ginny he rushed to embrace her, holding onto her for dear life, ignoring the shocked looks of those around him. "I didn't know he had it in him." Neville joked.

"Indeed, I always thought he had the emotional range of a teaspoon." Draco added but Ron ignored them, choosing not to say anything except to thank Harry and Edward profusely.

Harry tried to explain that it wasn't what they had done but Edward looked at him in warning. It wouldn't do for too many people to know about the basilisk that now obeyed and followed Harry. Laura, of course, caught the silent exchange and vowed to find out what it was about. "So how do we get out of here?" Neville asked.

"Ah the perks of being related to a founder." Edward murmured. "Gather round everyone and make sure you have a firm grasp of each other. Draco if you could grab Lockhart I'd appreciate it. All good? Very well then hold on tight!" And with a pop the group disappeared and reappeared in Albus' office startling him and an irritated Lucius Malfoy. "Professor Baxter if you could escort them to the Hospital Wing I'd appreciate it. I need to update the Headmaster." Laura nodded and guided everyone else, including the babbling Lockhart, to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey waited.

After they had gone, Lucius spoke up. "Why didn't you just apparate them directly to the Hospital Wing?"

"Because Lucy boy the only two places in this castle that I can safely apparate to and from without shattering any wards are this office and my office but this office is closer to the Hospital Wing and it's quite a bit larger so here we are."

The sneer that up until that moment adorned Lucius' face disappeared and his face paled considerably as Edward pulled out the burnt remains of the diary. "It seems like someone thought it appropriate to slip this into Miss Weasley's things at Diagon Alley before start of term." Edward glanced at Lucius as he said this.

"If you are implying that I had anything to do with this-" But he never finished his sentence.

Lucius was interrupted as Edward lashed out, grasping Malfoy by the throat before slamming him backwards onto Albus' desk. "If you ever come near her again, if another child is ever endangered by our political schemes aver endanger another child or if you so much as look at her the wrong way again I will make sure your death is as painful as it could possibly be. And the best part? They'd never even find your body." Edward whispered viciously before letting go, but not before Lucius heard a threatening hiss from somewhere around Edward's left side. Edward nodded to the Headmaster and stormed off towards the Hospital Wing.

Lucius struggled to stand while Albus watched him impassively for a moment before he asked "Lemon Drop?" Lucius sneered but the effect was somewhat lessened by the fact that he was still struggling to regain his breath. So, he just strode out of the office, leaving a smiling Dumbledore behind, their previous conversation all but forgotten.

Which brings it back to present time as Edward strode into the hospital Wing, greeted by Madam Pomfrey fussing over Harry and Ginny, Lockhart having been immediately taken to Saint Mungo's for care. Of course, the other children had refused to Leave and Laura was making sure no one interrupted or got in Pomfrey's way. Emma had come quickly, having been notified by the Ravenclaw ghost which Edward found odd because the Grey Lady rarely spoke to anyone but he put that mystery out of his mind for the moment.

An hour later, James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus had arrived, worry etched into all of their faces as they swarmed the two children. After making sure there were no further injuries, and the other children sent to bed, the adults all gathered in Albus' office so Edward could tell them what happened. By the end of the story, Lily was furious, not at Edward thankfully, but at Lucius. "I could throttle that arrogant toe rag! How could he put his own son in such danger!?"

Edward had asked himself that same question though he kept that to himself. What pureblood would put his own heir in danger? Lucius had never struck him as the rash sort. "The only thing I can think of, is if he had written in the diary himself although I'm not sure why he'd risk it. I'm sure Voldemort told him what it could be used for and he figured he'd do it to discredit Arthur's new muggle protection law."

"Speaking of which," Laura frowned "Where is Arthur and Moll?"

The others looked at each other nervously which Edward immediately was suspicious of. "What happened?"

"Have you read the Prophet mate?" James asked.

"No, when have I had time to do that?" Edward asked exasperated.

"Well if you had, then you'd have seen where the rat escaped Azkaban along with Fenrir Greyback." Remus explained.

Edward's blood ran cold. Of course, that would scare Arthur and Molly, Arthur had been the one to accidentally capture Greyback, having been in the right place at the right time. He frowned then. "But that wouldn't stop them from checking on their daughter."

"No, you're right of course but they've been meeting with Aurors all day. They were frazzled out by the end of it so I convinced them to wait and see Ginny tomorrow morning." Lily explained.

"When they're better rested and grounded." James added.

Edward nodded, understanding the situation entirely.

"So, one Horcrux down, six to go." James stated.

Sirius shook his head. "No Prongs, five to go. He split his soul into seven pieces so there would only be 6 horcruxes to destroy."

"Math was never really James' strong suit." Lily advised amusedly which caused James to glare at them half-heartedly.

"Right, so five to go. We could discuss what they might be but I think we are all far too tired and I know that I need a shower after going down that sewer shaft." Edward stated as he got up.

"You and Laura could just shower together and save time." Sirius joked with a grin before Lily smacked him in the head. Laura herself was beet red.

Edward rolled his eyes. "I'll see you all later." After the others had all gone home, he and Laura left Albus' office. "You know, we really could shower together if you'd like." Edward joked.

Laura to her credit, merely rolled her eyes. "I'm not that easy you know." Edward could detect the hint of insecurity in her voice though she tried her best not to show it.

"You'll have to ignore Sirius most of the time. Inappropriate jokes are his specialty or so he thinks." When she stayed silent he sighed and pulled her to a stop, turning her to face him. "I know our relationship is still young and all, but I promise, I'll never go further than what you're comfortable with. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing you in the shower, but I won't push you."

"I know that, but you know how muggleborns are treated in this world. Before I got this job, I tried getting secretarial positions in several departments and was basically told point blank that the only way I'd be worth anything is on my back. I knew I wouldn't get that from Albus because, well, he's rumored to not even be into women at all. But it still makes me nervous."

"I understand, but I've always got your back and know that I'm always on your side. That's part of being in a relationship together." Edward seethed inside that anyone had ever told Laura that she was only worth the sex and that the only thing she was good for was being the sexual tool of some perverted wanker. But he knew anger would solve nothing here. "I'll never treat as a thing. You are an amazing person and an amazing woman. You're easily worth a hundred of each of those wankers."

Laura smiled, feeling a little better. "Thank you, Edward." She thanked him sincerely and when they parted ways to go shower and sleep, Edward felt as if they had just taken another step in their relationship.

 **Holy moly I am sorry that took as long as it did to pump out but here's chapter 10 finally. My posting schedule probably won't improve or anything but I will certainly put them out when I can. Life has been busy. Anyway, of course if you have any questions or concerns please IM me or just leave a review (certainly leave a review anyway). And please don't leave a negative review and then block me after I respond. Someone reviewed my Cloud of Lies story, comparing it to a time travel story and said it was the same. After I messaged and asked why he thought that since they are two completely different stories, he responds with "I didn't mean to offend you it's just my opinion" and then blocked me so I couldn't respond and ask again why he thought that. If you have an opinion, please back it up and don't block me when I ask you for details. Horrible manners. Anyway, have a wonderful rest of the week!**


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